Notes on the News

The Formerly Unthinkable

2011-07-27T13:32:00.000-07:00

Who'd've thunk it?

We are about to reach a point long (and until last week) considered unthinkable -- a failure to raise the debt ceiling, resulting in the federal government unable to pay all of our obligations.

The right wing continues to press the claim that this situation has been brought about because liberal social democracy is 'unsustainable.' The only hope, they say, is to give Reaganomics/supply side/trickle-down economics more time to work.

The liberal response, typically, is that trickle-down has had over 30 years to work and has been an utter failure. Which it has.

But a failure at what, exactly?

But of course!

What trickle-down has failed at is sustaining liberal social democracy! And in that the social/economic right wing has been wildly successful.

Consider the march of neoconservative history since Reagan:

Tax cuts for corporations and the wealthy, so revenues don't keep pace and the remaining burden is shifted onto the middle and working class;
Privatization of government services, adding profit share and therefore additional cost -- Medicare Advantage, multi-fold increases in defense & war spending, prison corporations, etc.;
A neocon majority on the Supreme Court, giving us Bush v. Gore and Citizens United vs. FEC;
Conservative talk radio and general media consolidation, creating uniformity in news reporting, opinion-forming and civic discourse.

In short, the right wing has increased the cost of Grover Norquist's 'beast' and made it impossible to defend and sustain in the long term.

And used control of mass media to define the terms of the debate, so that obvious, no-brainer and popular solutions (e.g., removing the FICA cap, having the rich pay their fair share, breaking up too-big-to-fail entities) are off the table.

The long con

Look back and see the long conservative game. We're standing at a transition: the end of the set-up, where the right wing has pushed liberal social democracy to the brink of the waterfall. With today's competing Reid and Boehner debt ceiling plans, the choice isn't between left and right solutions, but whether when we hit bottom we land in deep water, shallow water or on the rocks.

The next stage in the right wing's plan can be but one thing: the Ryan Plan or its equivalent, formalizing the dismantling of the New Deal and ushering in what they think will be Libertarian Fantasyland. Or Utopia -- which means 'no place.'

That Depends

2011-06-12T23:33:00.000-07:00

"Is McKenna Really a Dan Evans Republican?" is what the mighty
Publicola wanted to know yesterday (http://goo.gl/S1zva).
Well that depends on which Dan Evans we're talking about. If it's the
Governor Dan Evans who started the Washington Department of Ecology,
supported a state income tax, and founded Evergreen State College
(goooo Geoducks!), then no, Rob McKenna is not a Dan Evans Republican
although that's what McKenna and the group Mainstream Republicans want
us to think.
Then again, there was the Evans who -- in order to be appointed
Senator Dan following the death of Scoop Jackson -- totally sold out
Governor Dan's moderate/progressive legacy. This was the Senator Evans
who voted to confirm Robert Bork to the Supreme Court, to fund the
Contras, and who generally voted straight down the Reagan party line.
In this respect, yeah -- Rob McKenna IS A DAN EVANS REPUBLICAN TO A T.

YouTutorial

2011-04-01T09:50:00.000-07:00

This is how you embed the video of Krazy Eyes trying to avoid the L.A. Times, and have it start at a specific point:

or if using the OLD format:

This way, you jump to the embarrassing statement -- and without pissing off YouTube or the copyright owner.

Click Play, it will jump to 7:35

GOP's planned giveaway to the mega-rich

2010-11-09T18:15:00.000-08:00

Washington Post

16 tweets about the suspension of Keith Olbermann

2010-11-05T22:38:00.000-07:00

Yours truly posted the following about Keith Olbermann's suspension on Twitter tonight, under @PRTandWiseline. I was moved to write it after a certain radio show producer jumped on me as though I were some sort of teabagger. I needed to make clear that when I disagreed with him about Olbermann (radio boy is pro-suspension) I was not doing so to harsh his morning drive-time happy talk. I was also not trying to "silence" him as he claimed -- because criticism is not censorship or prior restraint. I thought all liberals knew that.

I did it because I wanted him to influence his boss to have some solidarity with Olbermann, in order to start a boycott of MSNBC that would do something -- anything, even a little thing -- to hit back at media consolidation.

Anywho, here are the tweets (they were tagged #p2 #olbermann #boycott #msnbc).

1) I know a lot of tweeple want to be idealistic about politics, media, rules, & uniform application thereof.

2) But many folks seem to forget - or not realize - that we are in the middle of a very real ideological struggle...

3) ...over consolidation & access to mass media by points of view not approved by corporate ownership.

4) Did @keitholbermann break a Rule? Maybe. There's some question about whether the Rule applied to MSNBC.

5) But even if it applies, the truth is that the Rule serves no useful purpose. Because the Other Side that wants to...

6) ...stomp out liberals has thrown away the rules. They follow no rules. They do what they want in media...

7) ...they blur politics & media. @keitholbermann did not blur the line. His donations were personal...

8) ... & had no effect on how he did his job. If we sit on the sideline, letting @keitholbermann get punished...

9) ...is equivalent to the attack on Lauren Valle, & the next day Rand Paul says he opposes violence on both sides.

9a) The violence was on ONE side. In today's case, the Rule(s) are only on 1 side.

10) @keitholbermann gave 3 donations. SO WHAT. He did it publicly, he knew they'd be reported to the FEC.

11) MSNBC's Phill Griffin suspending @keitholbermann for 'ethics' is nothing but a convenient pretext...

11a) (the corporatists think liberals will see 'Rule violation' & shut up, since we believe in rule of law)

12) ...to please the network's new GOP-loving masters, Comcast. Silencing an endangered political viewpoint...

13) ...is precisely the reason this struggle about media consolidation is so important.

14) We are in an ideological war for media access. If the Other Side wins, the 1st Amendment won't matter...

15) ...because speech, without access to media, is not heard. So do we play by rules the other side ignores?

16) And do we let them take one of our generals off the board? Or do we boycott MSNBC?

'Arpaio Macht Frei'

2010-08-04T09:50:00.000-07:00

Arizona's Sheriff Joe calls his Tent City a "concentration camp":

Helen Thomas retires over Palestine comments

2010-06-07T10:02:00.001-07:00

I've watched The Video several times, and I don't hear any anti-Semitism in Helen Thomas' comments. She was offering her opinion that Jewish people should "get the hell out of Palestine," and return to, among other places, the United States -- and "everywhere."

Stopping an endless cycle of bloodshed and reprisal by suggesting one of the combatants think about relocating (to perfectly nice, developed economies) is not racism. Racism is something like driving by an Asian American and yelling Go Back To CHIna!

Rather, Thomas made the mistake of thinking that a culture's attachment to the land can be defined-out of a complex and highly charged struggle.

In that sense, Helen Thomas is just as naive as libertarians who seem to think prejudice and racism can be assumed out of existence, so civil rights laws (and Affirmative Action) are unnecessary. Interesting theory, but: No.

Microsoft rides to Palin's rescue

2010-03-02T20:39:00.001-08:00

Soon we may not be able to laugh at Sarah Palin's cribnotes system:

+

And she could sue Microsoft for theft of intellectual pro- ehhh maybe not.

Changes

2010-02-13T00:56:00.001-08:00

Profiteers

2010-02-09T11:35:00.000-08:00

How much is your insurance premium going up? Is your insurer on this list?

WellPoint 2008 cash/cash equivalent assets: $ 2.18 billion
Premera Blue Cross 2008 reserve: $840.1 million
Regence Blue Shield 2008 surplus: $1.779 billion
Aetna 2008 operating earnings: $3.93 billion
United Health Group revenues: $81.186 billion

Ahhh, Lynnwood

2010-02-07T00:38:00.001-08:00

"Hacked emails were planned and well-funded"

2009-12-07T21:50:00.000-08:00

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

2009-10-27T14:23:00.000-07:00

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"

2009-10-23T20:05:00.000-07:00

Inspired.

How Bike Lanes should be done

2009-10-22T08:45:00.000-07:00

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

The New York High Line

2009-10-14T10:06:00.000-07:00

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

2009-10-12T12:57:00.000-07:00

Wawona Tunnel, Yosemite Valley

Swell Season

2009-10-06T22:03:00.000-07:00

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

Tiny Desk Concert

Bad meme

2009-10-03T08:08:00.000-07:00

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

2009-09-30T11:20:00.000-07:00

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

2009-09-20T00:34:00.000-07:00

'Found music' by Jarbas Agnelli

No problem after Viaduct shuts down

2009-09-04T11:33:00.000-07:00

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

2009-08-06T12:54:00.000-07:00

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"

2009-07-29T13:21:00.000-07:00

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

2009-07-16T00:02:00.000-07:00

Break Room Live's last show:

Maron Down Under

2009-06-20T00:57:00.001-07:00

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?

2009-06-19T22:40:00.000-07:00

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

2009-06-17T15:15:00.000-07:00

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

2009-06-15T15:56:00.000-07:00

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)

2009-06-11T23:23:00.000-07:00

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

2009-05-21T23:25:00.000-07:00

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

2009-05-10T15:30:00.000-07:00

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

2009-04-30T19:19:00.000-07:00

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"

2009-04-22T10:59:00.000-07:00

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

If not, watch it now!

Money talks

2009-03-27T09:19:00.000-07:00

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

2009-03-22T20:51:00.001-07:00

It would have crushed this little girl's dream:

Another car runs amok

2009-03-11T21:27:00.000-07:00

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

2009-02-23T12:34:00.001-08:00

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

2009-02-04T14:18:00.000-08:00

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?

2009-01-30T14:43:00.000-08:00

Where's our city-wide bike rental program?

Velíb (Paris)

Smartbike (Washington DC)

It's a new year...

2009-01-08T23:12:00.000-08:00

...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.

End of free parking in Fremont

2008-12-05T09:09:00.000-08:00

It's the end of free parking in Fremont
Surprise notification greeted with outrage

By KATHY MULADY
P-I REPORTER

Fremont isn't so free anymore, at least not the parking.

The Seattle Department of Transportation announced Thursday that Fremont will be the next neighborhood to get paid parking stations, probably by February.

It will cost $1.50 per hour to park in one of the 115 paid parking stations in the central retail district from 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. Monday through Saturday.

I guess now we'll have to call it Feemont.

4 out of 5 warmongers agree

2008-10-19T12:51:00.000-07:00

4 out of 5 former Secretaries of State surveyed by the American Mental Association recommend Imperialism for their constituents who choose guns.

“I’m also very pleased to have the endorsement of four former Secretaries of State, State Kissinger, Baker, Eagleburger and Haig” — John Sidney McCain III, Oct. 19, 2008

Maron from the road

2008-10-13T14:22:00.000-07:00

Here's the link at The Guardian where Marc Maron is blogging about their cross-country election road trip.

Lynn Forester de Rothschild's compadres

2008-10-10T12:23:00.000-07:00

Marc Maron goes all English on us

2008-09-29T11:57:00.000-07:00

I seem to recall Maron was going to do some HBO election year show with Ana Marie Cox, but it never went anywhere. Instead, Marc has hooked up with the folks at The Guardian:

GuardianFilms puts the rubber to the road

Comedian and Air America Media host Marc Maron joins the team that brought you the New Hampshire primary and Super Tuesday documentary series as we hit the highway for a new election road show, this one stretching from coast to coast.

We'll be travelling, in true American style, in two RVs. Packed inside, along with Marc Maron, will be veteran investigative journalist James Ridgeway, who'll be blogging from the road, and a team of film-makers and editors headed by Patrick Farrelly and Kate O'Callaghan, producing daily short videos from the cities and farms, truck stops and mega-churches, country clubs and soup kitchens of the United States. We'll be joined by Guardian correspondents, politicians, and assorted opinion-makers as we try to understand the forces shaping the US vote in 2008

From Los Angeles to Washington, DC - via the battleground states of Nevada, New Mexico, Colorado, Missouri, Indiana, Ohio, Pennsylvania, and Virginia - we'll be looking at the key issues and inviting ordinary citizens into our "Truth Booth" to tell us which candidate can snatch a divided and demoralised nation back from the jaws of disaster.

Source

Slick use of dehumanization

2008-09-26T10:31:00.000-07:00

The Thursday deadline passed without action, and today the Nickelsville tent city is still there. Maybe Hizzoner decided it would be bad to express support for the homeless one day (see yesterday), and take away one of their places to live the next.

And notice how concerned the Mayor's Office is about the human dimension:

City crews placed more than a dozen no-trespassing signs in and around the camp, dubbed "Nickelsville" in defiance of Mayor Greg Nickels, about two hours before the deadline of a 72-hour eviction notice.

But the 5 p.m. deadline passed without incident at the site in an industrial area in the Highland Park neighborhood.
"We don't announce when the cleanup will happen," said Karin Zaugg Black, Nickels' spokeswoman. Source

"Cleanup." Cleanup is what you do to garbage. People get evicted.

Don't dehumanize the residents of Nickelsville, Ms. Black. Call the eviction what it is.

More: Mayor, Zaugg claim no shelter shortage, define controversy as "political"

The post with Dan Rather

2008-09-25T20:12:00.000-07:00

Toddled over to the Westin today, to attend the Plymouth Housing Group annual luncheon. I love this group, it is unbelievably effective in planning, funding and constructing transitional and low income housing around downtown Seattle. And they also provide the medical and social support services people need to avoid becoming homeless again.

Anywho, the annual luncheon always features a celebrity draw. A couple years ago it was Malcolm Gladwell; last year was Martin Sheen. Today at least a thousand people turned out to hear journalist Dan Rather, who spoke in broad historical terms about the rise, neglect and potential fall of the social welfare system in the United States.

Rather is eloquent and cerebral -- which is easy to forget reporters can be, given the current state of the profession's blow-dried ratings leaders.

Also given a few minutes to speak were former mayor Norm Rice, and current mayor Greg "Seattle's Green Mayor" Nickels. Both spoke of the need to reduce homelessness; Nickels finished his free lunch, then slipped out when the lights went down for the video profiling several Plymouth residents.

Nickels' appearance, frankly, was a breathtaking display of chutzpah. I wonder if he'll feel the same way about the homeless tomorrow.

Nickels. He finished lunch and scooted.

The Other Thing:

The new website for the Sam Seder/Marc Maron online show can be seen at mvslive.com, give it a look and enjoy the videos.

Green era means we should rethink traffic priorities

2008-09-23T13:24:00.000-07:00

Today in the Seattle Times:

Seattle is seeking possession of a popular boating-supply store along Mercer Street, even though the city remains $88 million short of the funds it needs to carry out a street reconstruction project there.

West Marine is to be condemned and torn down to make room for a 60- to 70-foot road widening along Mercer Street in an area commonly called the "Mercer Mess," according to the city's plan.
...private contributors won't commit money for the project until Seattle secures the right-of-way. Of the missing $88 million, the city is negotiating to get $36 million from nearby businesses that would benefit from the $201 million rebuild.
. . .
For two generations, commuters have complained about the Mercer Mess between Interstate 5 and Seattle Center. The city plans to add lanes for two-way travel on Mercer, which now goes eastbound to I-5. Valley Street, now an arterial, would be reduced to two lanes.

A study for the Seattle Department of Transportation predicts that drivers would save minutes leaving I-5, because they would gain a straight route on Mercer westbound, instead of navigating a curve to Valley. Overall, there would be little change in congestion, the study says; but bicycling and walking conditions would improve greatly, while landscaping would make the area more pleasant.
Source

Am I understanding this right? The city wants to spend $201 million on this 10-block stretch so drivers can save a few minutes? That's the sole benefit traffic-wise, because there would be no congestion reduction. Let's make a ledger.

Benefits	Costs ($201 million)
Cars: Drivers save a few minutes	Congestion continues at same level
Non-motorized: Improved walking, biking	generally $1 million per block, including curbs and drainage
Other: Nice landscaping	Businesses: Loss of strong retailer; $36 million

Anyone see anything wrong here? Try taking off your Car Culture Hat. How about now?

That's right: Although I'm mixing qualitative and quantitative, the costs for the automobile portion is the biggest, maybe $150-155 million, while returning the littlest benefit -- a few minutes per driver.

Want to reduce congestion? Want to make the transition away from the car culture? THEN STOP FACILITATING IT. Spend $10 million on non-motorized transportation on Mercer, and a few more million on landscaping and trees. Mandate Low Impact Development to protect Lake Union.

Road-diet what's there now, and maybe you'll get more people biking and taking Metro and the S.L.U.T. (and North Link whenever that's supposed to happen).

Raise Hand Question for Mr. Rossi?

2008-09-20T12:26:00.000-07:00

Yes -- question at the back.

Thank you, Scott. Mr_Grant, Wiseline Institute Northwest. I wanted to ask Shadow Governor Rossi a question about economic policy.

Over the past months and weeks we've seen the American -- global, really -- financial crisis come to a head. IndyMac. Fannie Mae. Freddie Mac. Lehman Brothers. AIG. Huge swings in the Dow.

What's more, a growing number of commentators have traced the culpability of Republican neoconservative economic policy and corruption in this meltdown, as well as Enron and energy deregulation earlier in this decade. This linkage is typified by the roles of Phil "Mental Recession" Gramm.

The crisis is trickling down all right. At the state level, in Olympia a $3.2 billion deficit is being forecast.

Furthermore, this weekend sees announcements of a $500 billion federal bailout package, the biggest intervention since the Great Depression.

Do you have a question?

Yes. How can Shadow Governor Rossi keep running the "we're going to be fiscally conservative" campaign ad and identify himself as "GOP" with a straight face?

Why no bail out for Lehman Brothers?

2008-09-16T11:02:00.000-07:00

Why was the Bush Administration willing to bail out Bear Stearns, and take over Fannie and Freddie, but drew the line at bailing out Lehman Brothers? How's this for a reason:

Investment bank Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc., which filed for bankruptcy-court protection early Monday, has been the eighth-largest corporate giver to Sen. Obama's campaign this election cycle, with Lehman employees donating $361,000. Source

And what do you want to bet AIG doesn't get federal help either:

Trouble at several other companies could hurt fund raising for Sen. Obama and other Democrats. Employees of insurance giant American International Group Inc., for example, have given 66% of their $647,000 in total political donations to Democrats in the current election cycle, after favoring Republicans from the mid-1990s through early 2000s. (same source)

AIG -- too big to fail, I guess.

Tuesday Night Rhythm Society

2008-09-10T00:21:00.000-07:00

TMBG- Don't Let's Start

Dan Rather to speak at Plymouth Housing Group event

2008-09-08T11:41:00.000-07:00

That's right -- former CBS anchor and Texas Air National Guard truthteller Dan Rather has just been announced as the featured speaker for the annual Plymouth Housing Group "Key To Hope" event.

Rather is replacing original speaker John Edwards, who has withdrawn from public engagements for some reason.

The luncheon is Sept. 25 at Noon. Register at the Plymouth site ($150 suggested donation). See you there!

Soft launch for Maron v. Seder show

2008-09-08T11:23:00.000-07:00

Tune in at Noon PT on Monday-Thursday this week for previews of Marc Maron and Sam Seder's new Air America online video show. The link is samsedershow.com/YKCam. Marc promises it "won’t look anything like this one."

An Alaskan opines on Palin

2008-09-05T00:01:00.000-07:00

From the site Faithful Democrats:

Welcome to the Matanuska Valley GOP Women's Club!

Lots of friends and relatives have been asking me (as an Alaskan) what I think of Sarah Palin, our Governor, and new choice for McCain as a VP candidate.

This pick floored me. Sarah Palin is a nice person. I've met her. I've even talked to her for a few minutes at a principal's conference a couple of years ago. She has lots going for her superficially. She speaks from the heart, like a spitfire mother; she can even be sort of funny sometimes. She is quite beautiful, athletic and has that radiant glow of someone who actually spends time doing things outside. Unlike many politicians, she has lived a "real life" and done things that few living and working in DC could ever do....like dipnettin' fish, shootin' stuff and eating it out on the tundra, and havin' 5 kids.

Personally, I'd never vote for her. She has an extremely simple view of the world. I don't even think she has ever been abroad.

More

Hold on a minute

2008-09-04T18:38:00.001-07:00

Didn't the Resmuglicans attack Obama for saying he would go after terrorists in Pakistan?

So where's the right wing criticism of yesterday's U.S. strike in South Waziristan? Have they called Obama and said, "sorry Barack, we decided that was a good idea you had there"?

McSame Sans Flag

2008-08-29T13:19:00.001-07:00

Look who's left the house without his Flag Pin -- why does McCain't hate America? And notice how he's checking out Gov. Palin's rack. I bet Cindy can hear the footsteps.

Has anyone ever seen Palin and Michele Bachmann together at the same time?

What's the deal with Resmuglican women and the Karen Walker look anyway?

Preview - France photos

2008-08-28T14:39:00.000-07:00

At Viropop (accompanying post)

Stay tuned; a lot more where these came from (1-and-a-half gigs worth... yeesh).

Update: The whole dang Flickr set is here.

Your security services at work

2008-07-24T09:05:00.000-07:00

(8:46 am) Why did a caravan of Homeland Security cops (a sedan and two SUVs) need to go racing up Third Avenue, full lights and sirens, at the end of this morning's rush hour?

Bloody Leader

2008-07-21T14:20:00.000-07:00

How did I miss this one?

Maron at Bumbershoot!

2008-07-14T16:45:00.000-07:00

Marc Maron, the funniest person fired twice by Air America, will be at the Seattle's Bumbershoot music/arts festival over Labor Day weekend. According to story today on CBS Marketwatch, Maron --along with "satiristas" Janeane Garofalo, Tom Rhodes and Rep. Richard (Dick) Martin will appear on the Comedy Stage South aka the Charlotte Martin Theatre.

Sonics aftermath - can we move on yet?

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

Now that the Sonics are loading their stuff into Clay Bennett's stretch Escalade (one guesses) for the long drive to OKC, is it too soon to raise the issue of what happens to the future city revenue no longer dedicated to paying off the Key Arena remodel?

For years, the City has used the excuse "there just isn't enough money for that" for everything not involving Paul Allen. Well the Sonics settlement means $25 million has been freed up.

I hereby step to the counter and take a numbered ticket in the name of sidewalks for all of Greenwood. Everybody else: the line forms behind me.

What activist judiciary?

2008-07-07T14:00:00.000-07:00

I have received word that a state appeals court has struck down King County's "65/10 rule," requiring property owners retain 65% of forest and limiting impervious surface to 10%. This rule is critical to the issue of reducing stormwater runoff, which is a major source of pollutants that enter Puget Sound.

The rule is meant to comply with the Growth Management Hearings Board policies, but my source has told me the appeals court has held the rule to be an illegal fee.

More as it develops.

Update (1518 PDT): The Post-Intelligencer has the first media report.

More at This Week in Precipitation.

Maron in for Hartmann

2008-06-29T22:50:00.000-07:00

Marc Maron brings the Funny to Air America again, filling in for Thom Hartmann tomorrow and Wednesday, July 2. Tune in to KPTK am 1090, 9-Noon Pacific, or stream on the Death Star.

Will overvaluing appraisals be on the agenda?

2008-06-11T21:42:00.000-07:00

I can't believe this commercial for a business conference is running on Seattle radio, without a hint of irony in the announcer's voice:

AM1090 proudly presents the WaMu Breakfast Series… Big Ideas For Small Businesses… How to be a Northwest Business Gone Big, Thu June 19th at the WaMu Theatre. Networking starts at 7am, the panel starts at 7:45am and it will be finished by 9am. Join us for a morning of networking and panel discussion and insight into how to take your Northwest Small Business and make it big...

Climate Change roundtable

2008-06-09T10:00:00.000-07:00

Last minute announcement:

YOUR HOUSE, YOUR CAR, OUR CLIMATE: STATE DEPT. OF TRANSPORTATION DEPUTY SECRETARY TO DISCUSS HOW LAND USE IN WASHINGTON AFFECTS CLIMATE CHANGE

WHAT: At this evening discussion roundtable, two influential state and community leaders will discuss the core issues that are key to Washington’s ability to tackle climate change: the connection between land use and transportation.

WHO: David Dye, Deputy Secretary of the Washington Department of Transportation, will discuss how the Department is responding to the challenge of reducing emissions from transportation in Washington.

Rod Brown, senior partner at Cascadia Law Group, will discuss what changes we may see based on the actions taken during the 2008 Washington legislative session relating to growth management and climate change.

WHEN: Monday, June 9, 2008, 6-8 p.m.

WHERE: REI Flagship Store, 222 Yale Avenue North, 2nd floor meeting room.

COST: Admission is free. Refreshments provided.

This event is organized by the Washington Foundation for the Environment, and co-sponsored by People For Puget Sound and CH2M Hill.

Maron gets another tryout

2008-05-28T09:06:00.000-07:00

Marc Maron is back on Air America again for the Noon-3 pm PDT slot, today through Friday. Once again, Seattlites must listen on the Death Star, or hope for a weekend replay on KPTK.

Bremerton Chamber official - vets' group not honorable

2008-05-15T09:49:00.000-07:00

The Bremerton Chamber of Commerce won't let the local Vets For Peace chapter appear in Saturday's Armed Forces Day Parade. Parade committee chairman Cris Larsen apparently doesn't think a bunch of actual veterans are honorable enough to participate in the event:

"I think it's silly for this to become an issue and for them to hijack an honorable day"

Larsen's excuse?

The parade is meant to honor all who are serving or have served in the armed forces, Larsen said. It's not a political outlet.

‘Silly vets, you're just not warry enough! Peace is just political!’

Oddly, Cris Larsen is a comedian. Crap, I wonder what his shows are like. Ya ever notice how those peace advocates are always advocating for peace? What’s the deal with THAT? etc.

I assume this is him:

It’s a camouflage hat — hiding his brain from view, one supposes.

Maron can go home again, apparently

2008-04-30T20:22:00.000-07:00

The Maron brings the Funny back to Air America Radio, with a guest host stint May 6-8. Randi's old time slot, Noon-3 Pacific.

Seattlites: listen online at the Death Star.

Greenwood redevelopment

2008-04-26T12:11:00.000-07:00

Coming to you today from Green My Ride, at the Phinney Neighborhood Center.

The new retail/condo project behind the Greenwood Bartell Drugs has been given a name: Piper Village --for Piper's Creek, presumably. Ironically, the site (and everything else within a block or more) sits on the paved-over, drying-out bog that serves as the creek's headwaters.

BIAW's Musser has joke detector switched to OFF position

2008-04-03T10:31:00.000-07:00

I always try to write my little news-satire pieces with a veneer of reality, but then add that Little Something Extra that pushes it over the line separating libel from Constitutionally Protected Parody.

Usually when someone still doesn't get that it's a joke, or asks "Is this from The Onion?", I take it as a compliment. However, for the first time that I can recall I've gotten a comment from the actual ~~butt~~ subject of one of my gags:

This is Mark Musser. I am not sure where you get your information from, but not one quotation of mine that you have placed in your blospot [sic] is accurate, and most of them are in fact made up by someone (you?). You have placed all kinds of words in my mouth which I have never said.

If you are so inclined, you may read our newsletter at www.biaw.com and find my article inside the Building Insight newsletter, not the Daily Construction Worker.

Sincerely,
Mark Musser

My policy is that I don't explain comedic premises, because it plays into the hands of our country's all-too-pervasive sense of humor deficit.

Either you get it or you don't. But in this case, the fact that this particular someone doesn't get it is LMAO hilarious.

Check it out in the Comments at Wiseline Institute NW presents Mr_Blog's Left Turn.

Wonder where that bureaucratic inertia comes from

2008-04-02T10:18:00.000-07:00

SDOT Fun Facts #1

The Seattle Department of Transportation's phone number is 684-ROAD.

Not 684-BIKE. Or 684-WALK. 684-ROAD.

Maron in Seattle this weekend

2008-03-31T13:18:00.000-07:00

Erstwhile Air America host Marc Maron says he will be recording his third CD ("and maybe last") at Giggles comedy club, April 4 and 5, 8pm and 10pm shows.

Update: Marc on Conan O'Brien--

Link: Seattle radio interview in advance of the Giggles gig.

Bicycle safety PSA

2008-03-28T14:24:00.000-07:00

This video contains a power-of-suggestion trick that actually worked on me.

Maybe it's a different "Dino Rossi"

2008-03-25T13:32:00.000-07:00

"Rossi worried Gregoire could abuse loophole"

For the second year running, the Legislature has provided Gov. Chris Gregoire with potentially powerful leverage to raise money for her re-election campaign -- a loophole that allows her to accept donations during the 20-day period when she signs bills and the state budget into law.

Though Gregoire has vowed not to seek contributions until after she signs all the bills, her campaign is still accepting donations.

Dino Rossi, her Republican challenger, is critical of Gregoire because she could take advantage of the situation. He said she should have implemented a self-imposed freeze on fundraising.

...

"(Gregoire) shouldn't really be doing anything that gives the appearance of doing something underhanded or shady," Rossi said...

Is this the same Dino Rossi who ran the Backward Washington Foundation as an extension of his 2004 campaign, and de facto fundraising arm for a 2008 campaign that didn't exist yet? Naw, can't be the same one, that would be hypocritical.

"Unintended Consequences"

2008-03-21T13:29:00.000-07:00

The current issue of Newsweek relates the following about expansion of the scope of Patriot Act snooping, and how it caught Eliot Spitzer:

The Patriot Act gave the FBI new powers to snoop on suspected terrorists. In the fine print were provisions that gave the Treasury Department authority to demand more information from banks about their customers' financial transactions. Congress wanted to help the Feds identify terrorist money launderers. But Treasury went further. It issued stringent new regulations that required banks themselves to look for unusual transactions (such as odd patterns of cash withdrawals or wire transfers) and submit SARs—Suspicious Activity Reports—to the government. Facing potentially stiff penalties if they didn't comply, banks and other financial institutions installed sophisticated software to detect anomalies among millions of daily transactions. They began ranking the risk levels of their customers—on a scale of zero to 100—based on complex formulas that included the credit rating, assets and profession of the account holder.

Another element of the formulas: whether an account holder was a "politically exposed person." At first focused on potentially crooked foreign officials, the PEP lists expanded to include many U.S. politicians and public officials who were conceivably vulnerable to corruption.
The new scrutiny resulted in an explosion of SARs, from 204,915 in 2001 to 1.23 million last year. More

Spitzer, for all his faults, has not been accused of any corruption, has he? The Patriot Act has become the Puritan Act -- and a big Opposition Research drift net.

Maron and Seder to fill in for Malloy

2008-03-19T15:48:00.000-07:00

Marc and Sam are going to be subbing for Mike Malloy next month on his Nova M show (9-midnight weekdays, KPTK). They mentioned the news near the end of yesterday's Seder vs. Maron vodcast.

Sam will be taking April 7, while Maron will be hosting the April 8, 9 and 10 editions.

Maron said he won't do Air America anymore, because they won't pay him.

The size of the problem

2008-03-19T10:37:00.000-07:00

Sometimes people ask me why we need to add innovative technologies such as Personal Rapid Transit (PRT) to our urban transit networks.

The usual argument goes something like, transit ridership is up! If we just add more buses and build more light rail, we'll be able to solve our transportation problem.

In particular, the hackles tend to go up over cost -- PRT is expensive, so it will take resources away from transit. As though PRT would not be transit.

Next year will be my 20th since first learning about PRT. My motivation for supporting it then, as now, remains the same: The transportation problem is too big to continue relying solely on traditional, conventional transit technologies. The magnitude of the problem calls for real innovation, not tinkering around the edges.

A look at what is currently considered transit 'success' actually serves to give the problem its proper context.

Recently the Puget Sound region's leading transit agencies announced ridership was significantly up in 2007. Metro (King County) reported a 7% increase, while Sound Transit (a commuter-oriented agency serving parts of three counties) reported a 12.5% increase.¹ The Washington Public Interest Research Group, a fundraising and policy advocacy group, released impressive statistics on how transit usage translates to fuel saved, fuel costs saved, and tons of CO2 not emitted.²

But can annual marginal increases in transit usage get to the kind of ridership we need to reduce numbers of car trips, car miles traveled, and emissions? Interestingly, the recent trumpeting of transit gains made no mention of two important, context-providing numbers: total daily motorized travel, and transit's share of that travel (called transit "mode share," or "mode split").

Oddly, these numbers are not aggregated in one location, despite transportation having been a major preoccupation of the Puget Sound region for years. However, I have what might be called glacial patience, and I have rounded up data from a number of agencies.

Annual transit ridership for 2007

These numbers are mostly available from transit agencies or news sources.

Agency	Annual riders	Notes
Sound Transit	13,500,000	based on 1.5 million being a 12.5% increase
Metro Transit	110,000,000³
Community Transit (Snohomish County)	10,400,000	Based on a midyear report that ridership was trending 5.4% higher than 9.9 million trips in 2006.⁴
Pierce Transit	16,900,000⁵
Skagit Transit	450,000
Intercity Transit (Olympia)	4,300,000
Kitsap Transit	4,000,000	I had to estimate this as one-third of Sound Transit's ridership. The only good data on KT is that they serve 15,000 per weekday, a little more than a third of Sound Transit's 44,000 per weekday.⁶
TOTAL	158,050,000	This is about 433,000 a day on average

Annual total trips

For all modes (cars, trucks, transit, etc.) this is about 10 million a day, or 3.7 billion per year.⁷ I've also read recent claims of 12 million a day, growing to 16 million a day by 2030, but I'll be statistically conservative and keep it at 10.

The size of the problem

Transit's annual mode split in the region is therefore about 4.3%.⁸ The percentage would of course be lower if a higher number is used for total trips .

It is useful to keep two other things in mind. 1) The length of the average person's "journey to work" varies 10-14 miles depending on household income.⁹ 2) Washington's new law on climate change, recently signed by Governor Gregoire, includes goals to reduce annual vehicle miles traveled 18% by 2020, 30% by 2035, and 50% by 2050. The starting point is 75 billion annual miles, so you can do the math.

These numbers impart a sense of scale. How do you impact that many people, traveling that many times, for that many miles?

In short, 12.5% annual increases are hardly going to make a dent in the problem. Even if we were able to increase daily transit ridership to 1 million (a 230% increase) with more trains and buses, that is a transit mode split of only 9.9%.

Why not innovate?

No one is saying transit is going to do it alone. There is going to be travel demand management (e.g. tolls, congestion pricing), as well as individual lifestyle changes. But the latter is an aggregate of the millions (probably billions) of microeconomic decisions each of us makes about housing, work, shopping, school, recreation, etc. Those are millions/billions of things that have to go mostly right in order to make this dream called Sustainability come true. There are going to be a lot of innovations along the way.

In the face of these challenges, WHY NOT innovate transit too? Current versions of Personal Rapid Transit, an automated peoplemover concept that combines the speed of a train with the flexibility of a bus, convenience of a taxi, and greenness of an electric car, have been researched in Europe during the past decade.¹⁰ PRT is basically the 'horizontal elevator' idea you might have heard about in years past.

Potential niches include getting people quickly to and from train stations without driving, circulation transit, and rapid transit service to districts where large footprint rail technology can't fit or isn't economically justified.

The first one is being built now at Heathrow Airport; physical tests have demonstrated greater capacity than any light rail system operating in the UK.¹¹ We should be telling our transit agencies to start planning PRT networks now.

-----------------

1. Pulkkinen, L., "Sound Transit ridership rose 12.5% in 2007." Seattle P-I, Mar. 10, 2008
2. Lange, L., "Transit benefits: new study, new campaign." Seattle P-I, Mar. 6, 2008
3. Lindblom, M. and Gilmore, S., "Riders pack buses in record numbers." Seattle Times, Jan. 24, 2008
4. Community Transit, "Community Transit News." June 28, 2007
5. Austin, A., "Ridership up regionally, a tipping point for transit?" Morning News Tribune, Jan. 31, 2008
6. Sound Transit, "Dump the Pump Day June 21." June 12, 2007
7. Sound Transit, "2005 RTPO Plan Review." April 2005
8. 158,050,000 ÷ 3.7 bil
9. Puget Sound Regional Council, "Regional View Newsletter." Dec. 2007
10. Ironically, based on groundbreaking work done by the old Urban Mass Transit Administration in the 1970s
11. Virginia Dept. of Rail and Public Transportation, House Document 11: "Viability of PRT in Virginia." Jan. 11, 2008, Sec. IV(C)

Gullibility Experiment

2008-03-15T08:18:00.000-07:00

What will people believe about Barack Obama? Mo Rocca found out:

Ma(ro)n on the street interview

2008-03-11T20:27:00.000-07:00

So 27 minutes ago I'm listening to KPTK, and an AP Radio report about Eliot Spitzer comes on. They sought out a "man on the street" for a reaction, and guess who it was: Marc Maron, erstwhile Air America morning guy! But is that how the newsreader described him? No. How about "comedian," "genius humorist," or "Marc Maron of the internet's Seder v. Maron Hours"? Nope, nope and nope. AP described Maron as "New York resident Marc Mara"!

Q: ...New York resident Marc Mara says Spitzer should resign.

Maron: Yeah, based on this, on his, his career, and now come to find out he's tricked everybody. He's not the high moral standing fella he's portrayed himself as."

Next time Marc, spell it out for the reporter!

Same as the old Wiseline Speakeasy

2008-03-07T00:01:00.000-08:00

The Who!

Why are bus fares going up?

2008-02-29T14:43:00.000-08:00

Shortly after King County Metro announced bus fares would be going up by a quarter on March 1 (one-zone fares: $1.50 off-peak, $1.75 peak), my colleagues engaged in some casual speculation about what benefits we'll experience as transit riders. Would service improve? Would there be new routes?

Nope, so sorry. The reason can be found in this County background paper, which mentions:

Metro's revenues have not kept pace with inflation... The fare increase would raise $11.7 million in additional revenues annually, and allow Metro to maintain and improve the reliability, dependability and predictability of its system.

...

A 25-cent increase in fares also would enable Metro to move closer to the county’s target of recovering 25 percent of transit costs from the farebox to achieve greater financial stability, and to match neighboring transit agencies’ fares -- which is important as the region continues moving toward a single regional transit pass system.

In other words, fares are going up so the agency can tread water performance-wise, the bottom line will be better, and because it's what other agencies are charging.

I think Metro is under the misapprehension that transit is a profitmaking business.

But Metro is not a business. It has a monopoly in its service area, there is no need to see other agencies' price moves as market-leader signals.

Public transit is public precisely because its characteristics mean it cannot be delivered privately. Transit could be funded solely from the County's operating budget and operated fare-free -- and should be.

New Product Corner

2008-02-21T11:03:00.000-08:00

So I'm riding home yesterday from Pioneer Square, northbound on the Myrtle Edwards/Interbay route. You know where you have to make that left turn at Dravus and Elliott Avenue to get onto the Ballard Bridge? Well I'm making this turn, in the left lane, when I glance about 18 inches to my left to discover two fatasses in a newish white Infiniti next to me. Clearly they had misunderstood the expression "share the road."

At that moment I wished that my keys weren't at the bottom of my pannier. Then I had an idea. Here's the concept -- what if I had a stack of thin key-shaped refrigerator magnets, bearing the slogan "YOU'VE BEEN KEYED," and the section in RCW46 about bicyclists having the same rights and duties as a motor vehicle driver.

Whenever I get cutoff or otherwise endangered, I'd throw a "YOU'VE BEEN KEYED" magnet on the offender's car.

Much more civil than screaming "Fucktard" at them -- and educational to boot!

"Get them to print you a t-shirt with 'Fascist' on it"

2008-02-15T13:22:00.000-08:00

Same Old Wiseline

2008-02-09T22:57:00.000-08:00

Same Old Scene - Roxy Music

I have a job for this guy

2008-01-28T14:43:00.000-08:00

Bush can't find Osama, but Brian Ascher can find the owner of a lost camera.

"Nick & Nora" solve camera mystery

By BRIAN BERGSTEIN

The Associated Press

PREV of NEXT

KATHY WILLENS / AP
Brian Ascher and his fiancée, Erika Gunderson, stand in a New York bar that was the last piece in a puzzle to track down the owner of a Canon digital camera Gunderson found in a New York taxi on New Year's Eve.

At dusk on New Year's Eve, Erika Gunderson got into a taxi in New York City and entered a digital-age mystery.

Sitting on the back seat was a nice Canon digital camera. Gunderson asked the driver which previous passenger might have left it, but the cabbie didn't seem to care. So Gunderson brought it home and showed it to her fiancé, Brian Ascher. They decided that the only right thing to do was to find the owner.

But how? The only clues were the pictures on the camera: typical tourist snapshots, complete with a visit to the Statue of Liberty. How could they find a stranger among the huddled masses?

Gunderson is busy in finance at Bear Stearns, so the detective quest fell to Ascher, a 26-year-old law student at New York University. He was on winter break and eager to put off writing a paper about climate-change treaties.

No reports

He checked whether anyone had reported a matching missing camera to the city's Taxi and Limousine Commission. No dice. He placed ads in lost-and-found sections of Craigslist but got just one response — from a couple in Brazil who had lost a camera in a cab on Oct. 12, not Dec. 31.

"I guess they thought their camera had been riding around in a taxi for two months," Ascher recalls now, chuckling at the notion that such a thing would be possible in New York.

The 350 pictures and two videos on the camera showed several adults, an older woman and three children. Half put them at New York sites like the Empire State Building. The other half had the group enjoying warm weather and frolicking at kid-friendly theme parks.

Ascher easily pinpointed Florida. The group had stood in front of a sign indicating Clearwater, Fla., and posed at Bob Heilman's Beachcomber Restaurant there.

They also took a pirate-themed boat ride where the kids got mustaches painted on their faces. Ascher zoomed in on the group to see name tags on their shirts. He spotted an Alan, an Eileen, a male Noel and a female Noelle, plus a Ciarnan. Under their names was written "IRE."

When Ascher checked the videos, he saw nothing telling, just the children dancing and swimming. But in the background, he heard Irish accents.

OK, Ascher figured, the camera's owner is from Ireland.

Ascher called Canon's Ireland division to see if anyone had registered the camera's serial number. No such luck. He posted ads on Irish Web sites. Nothing.

He checked the date stamp on the photos from Bob Heilman's and called to inquire whether anyone remembered serving a big Irish group that day. Without the diners' last names, there was no way to check. It's a nice thing you're trying, the manager told Ascher, but you probably just found yourself a new camera.

Family help

Enter some fresh eyes. Ascher's mother, Nancy, and sister, Emily Rann, scoured the pictures for clues he might have missed. Nancy was particularly confident, having reunited people with their lost belongings before. She once found a California woman's wallet in a cab in Florence, Italy, and spent all day on her trail before making a handover at an American Express office.

"I thought, with all this data in the camera, there's no way we're not going to get it back to them," Nancy Ascher says now. "I was hoping it wasn't going to take a trip to Ireland, flashing their pictures everywhere."

Ascher's mother and his sister noticed one of the pictures showed a doorman helping someone into a New York taxi. Zooming tight on the doorman's uniform, they made out the logo of the Radisson Hotel.

After several phone calls and a visit to the hotel to show the pictures around, Nancy Ascher persuaded an employee to search the Radisson's guest records by first name and country of residence. Indeed, a Noel from Ireland had stayed there on the date stamped on the photo. Nancy Ascher charmed the hotel employee into sharing the guest's e-mail address.

Wonderful.

Except that when Noel responded to Brian Ascher, he said he hadn't lost a camera.

One more look

By now, school was resuming. Ascher was ready to give the camera to his mom so she could take over. She had figured out the name of the Florida pirate-boat cruise and was trying to reach its operator.

But first Ascher took a final look at the photographs.

He pored over some from Dec. 30 that didn't include the children. The photos showed signs for bars in Manhattan's East Village: The Thirsty Scholar, Telephone Bar, Burp Castle. There also were multiple interior shots of a tavern, but they didn't seem to fit with what Ascher knew of those other three bars.

Then he stopped on another picture, showing two people outside an apartment building. Seemingly accidentally included in the picture was something Ascher had missed the first time: an awning in the background that read "Standings." Aha! Standings is a bar next to Burp Castle. Ascher checked its Web site, and the interior matched the pictures on the camera.

Ascher found Standings' owner, who reached the bartender who had worked Dec. 30. Yes, he recalled an Irish group. Especially because one of the women was a big tipper and said she worked at another New York City bar, Playwrights. The Standings bartender called Playwrights to ask which employees had been in his bar.

Ascher soon got an e-mail from a woman named Sarah Casey, whose sister Jeanette works at Playwrights. Suddenly everything Ascher had seen on the camera came to life.

Mystery solved

The Caseys recently had hosted relatives and friends from Ireland. The group included their friend Alan Murphy, who had journeyed to Florida with family before heading to New York, where the clan stayed at the Radisson. (Their Noel was not the Noel whom Ascher e-mailed.)

Murphy ended the trip kicking himself for leaving his camera in a cab in the twilight on New Year's Eve.

Sarah Casey agreed to send it to him. It didn't go to Ireland but to Sydney, Australia, where Murphy lives now.

Murphy, an insurance underwriter, had been devastated to lose the pictures from a trip he had planned for years. It was Jan. 10 — his 34th birthday — when he heard he would be getting the photos back. "I was over the moon," he says now. "Best present ever."

"I owe you one," he wrote to Ascher. "It's good to know there are some honest people left in the world."

Bruce Babbitt to give Seattle talk

2008-01-25T09:41:00.000-08:00

Former Congressman, presidential candidate and Interior Secretary Bruce Babbitt has accepted an invitation from People For Puget Sound to give a talk on the environmental topics of his choice. The Seattle green NGO has signed up Babbitt, who is hilarious, to be the star of its third annual A New Day For Puget Sound event on May 8.

It's a pre-work breakfast time event, which means EARLY. It's also a fundraiser. But Babbitt is, as noted, hilarious, so it's well worth the money and rising at the crack of dawn.

Contact Nancy at (206)382-7007 for details.

Give meals during lunch

2008-01-04T12:01:00.000-08:00

Why waste time surfing the Web during your lunchbreak, when you could play FreeRice.com's vocabulary game? The more points you rack up, the more rice is donated through the UN.

Idea for streetcar collision avoidance

2007-12-20T12:36:00.000-08:00

SUV, streetcar collide; no one hurt

A sport-utility vehicle ran a red light Wednesday morning and was hit by one of the new South Lake Union streetcars... The crash at Mercer Street and Terry Avenue North happened at 7:28 a.m., when the SUV was going east toward Interstate 5.
. . .
The SUV driver told police he was maneuvering around a large puddle in the left lane of Mercer, then couldn't stop in time for a red light... More

If we treat this the way the City treats traffic safety out in the residential neighborhoods, then the Mercer & Terry intersection should get a traffic circle!

It would probably only take a few months to re-do the tracks to curve around the traffic circle. Not much of an inconvenience, as that amounts to only a tiny percentage of the overall streetcar line -- the same way that tracks in the Westlake curb lanes aren't much of an inconvenience for bicycles, in the overall scheme of things. So win-win!

Business Time

2007-12-14T22:11:00.000-08:00

Flight of the Conchords

"Extraordinary attempt by the Bush administration to kill off the fight against climate change"

2007-12-13T21:40:00.000-08:00

Bush's negotiators attempting to derail next round of climate change action:

"If they get this text through, then it will give a free pass to any nation that wants to keep polluting."

The proposed US text uses phrases such as "as appropriate", "depending" and "may" in reference to emissions cuts, which would effectively make any agreement reached voluntary. Last night it was understood that the US move was being supported by Canada, but fiercely opposed by the EU and Britain.

More

Bali talks launch new process: World looks beyond the lame duck

Skid - Crash - @#^$!

2007-12-06T10:56:00.000-08:00

I haven't ridden down Westlake since the SLUT construction crossed Mercer Street. Today's Mike Lindblom piece in the Times is not an incentive for me to try it now:

Cyclists, skinny tires, streetcar rails -- not a good mix
New streetcar tracks on Seattle's Westlake Avenue have turned into a trap for bicyclists.

The tires on a standard road bike are narrower than the 1 ¾-inch groove that holds a streetcar wheel. If a bicycle veers into that gap, it can easily get stuck, pitching the rider onto the street.

Seattle bike activists plan a wheeled protest next Wednesday, when the South Lake Union streetcar begins service from Westlake Center to the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center.

Despite the goal of Mayor Greg Nickels to triple bicycle use, the new streetcar line includes long stretches of track in the curb lanes of Westlake Avenue, where bicyclists normally ride. Many riders have adapted by riding on sidewalks, to the left of the tracks — or in the left lane, which aggravates motorists.

"The streetcar isn't operating yet, and we're already seeing people crashing," said Seattle Likes Bikes member Michael Snyder, who said he has heard of eight or nine accidents.
. . .
Alan Durning, founder of Sightline Institute, an environmental think tank, calls the Westlake situation one example of "bicycle neglect" — the American tendency to treat bikes as recreational vehicles, not primary transportation. A street posing similar hazards to cars would never be designed, he said.
More

Also in the news

Mayor Nickels want to give City employees "free bus passes." Very laudable. But free??? Someone's paying for it down the line, Greg-o.

SLUT is cruising South Lake Union...

2007-12-03T11:33:00.000-08:00

... I have been informed. What a great acronym.

When the Waterfront trolley goes back into service, they'll probably rename it Waterfront-Harbor Operating Rail Express.

Today at my local Starbucks

2007-12-01T15:48:00.000-08:00

Customer: I'm having a latte and a breakfast sandwich.
Cashier: What kind of sandwich was that?
Customer: Um- aren't they all the same price?
Cashier: We track them separately.
Customer: It's the pepper-bacon. You mean some manager might be saying 'Uh-oh, the pepper-bacon is trending down'?
Cashier: I'm totally not laughing at that.

Interest in truth?

2007-11-13T14:30:00.000-08:00

Find out about those poor, maligned people working in the field of payday loans: the Predatory Lending Association.

From the people who brought you Mystery Science Theater 3000...

2007-11-01T16:55:00.001-07:00

...Cinematic Titanic!!!

(H/T Generik)

No, Joe: Seattle City Council, Position 1

2007-11-01T14:44:00.000-07:00

Freakshow 2007^®

Joe Szwaja seemed like a good choice: liberal, teacher, environmentalist, surface+transit, living wages, unions, congestion pricing. The clincher were his strong answers to my community group's questionnaire on pedestrian and bicycle safety.

So yeah, on my absentee ballot I blacked-in the bubble next to his name.

Now I want my absentee ballot back, because Szwaja has gone negative in last-minute radio ads against incumbent Jean Godden.

It's basically a smear campaign, stating as fact ethics charges against Godden, when those charges have been dismissed by the Ethics and Elections Commission. Sure, it's under appeal—to keep it alive until Election Day. And who filed the complaint with the commission in the first place? A Szwaja volunteer.

Totally. Freaking. Despicable. VOTE EARLY AND GODDEN.

Zoo Society needs to park it

2007-10-31T09:43:00.000-07:00

OK, we've finally received a decision on the Woodland Park Zoo garage:

Zoo garage plan shot down

A controversial parking garage can't be built at Woodland Park Zoo under the city's land-use code, a Seattle hearing examiner has ruled in a decision announced Tuesday.

The summary judgment is a dramatic victory for activists who have opposed construction of the four-level garage as too big, too expensive and unnecessary.

More

This sets up a problem for the Zoo Society's business plan. Like it or not, the modern zoo survives by boosting attendance -- new visitors and repeat visits. To accommodate this, these people need someplace to park. Well, there are only two real alternatives: transit -- 10% mode share on a good day -- and dedicated shuttles -- expensive to operate or pay Metro to operate, as well as being point sources for tailpipe emissions. I should point out, for these reasons, that Heathrow Airport won't be using shuttle buses at the new Terminal 5 (automated peoplemovers instead), and plans to eventually phase them out for the other terminals.

So, if the business plan requires "driving" attendance, but parking is problematic, two options remain.

1. New Zoo Society business plan. But they already did a plan, and the neighbors and now the City have seen fit to veto part of it -- which is their right, I'm not complaining about that.

2. Return to direct City management of Woodland Park Zoo. I think this is the thing to do. Not only because it is unfair to hand the Zoo Society the reins and then tell them, in effect, they can only hold on with one hand. But also because the Zoo is still a public park and internationally recognized conservation institution, and should return to giving 100% of its attention to those missions. Not catering to party and conference rentals, and prepackaged touring exhibits, in order to generate revenues.

Talk Radio notes

2007-10-30T19:54:00.000-07:00

Erstwhile Air America host Marc Maron (the funny one) fills in for Randi Rhodes on Wednesday, Oct. 31 (Noon-3 Pacific online, 5-8 KPTK). Not bad for someone who said he was done with the network.

Also, erstwhile Englishman Michael Jackson returned to southern California airwaves yesterday on new Los Angeles talk station KGIL. The local liberal in a lineup that includes Larry King and Neal Boortz, Jackson is on 9-11am Pacific with a replay 5-7pm.

Referendum 67: Approve

2007-10-26T11:56:00.001-07:00

Freakshow 2007^®

All that anti-67 stuff put out by the insurance industry? All lies.