Spokane Skeptic

John Ahern has found a kindred spirit...

2010-11-05T19:17:00.001-07:00

Australian rugby player Joel Monaghan may be feeling a bit silly after this recent incident (Moderately NSFW photo):

"A shocking photo has emerged featuring Canberra Raiders and Australian rugby league star Joel Monaghan in a compromising position with a dog.

Monaghan is shown holding the dog by the ears, while the dog appears to be licking Monaghan’s genitals."

I'm guessing that local caniphile John Ahern has suddenly found a reason to start following Rugby...

***

As an aside to the People of Spokane: You seriously re-elected Ahern? Seriously? You do know that this man went before the city council in support of the notion that the Sustainability Action Plan is part of a United Nations conspiracy, right? And that he is a raging homophobe? And, frankly, an all around idiot? And that was the best you could do? We really are too stupid to save ourselves.

Forget about 2010, I'm thinking about 2011

2010-11-02T16:51:00.000-07:00

Tim Eyman has made himself quite a living creating ballot initiatives over the years. So, I thought to myself, why not me? I could work from home, make big bucks and just generally fuck with people. Sounds like fun!

So, without further ado, I present to you my 2011 Initiatives agenda for Washington state.

Initiative Measure No. 1133

Initiative Measure No. 1133 concerns the citizens initiative process in Washington state. It would require that all future initiatives be simplistic enough that they can be fully explained to a 7th grader in five sentences or less. Should this measure be enacted into law?

Comments - Should we really be asking people for an up or down vote on complex legislation? Isn't that what we pay legislators for?

Initiative Measure No. 1140

Initiative Measure No. 1140 concerns the day-to-day operation of the state legislature. It would require that all state legislators consume no less than 3 shots of 80-proof or higher liquor before entering the chamber. It would also require the construction of a video "confession booth" in the state capitol building. Proceeds from the broadcast of legislative proceedings would pay for the cost of this measure. Should this measure be enacted into law?

Comments - Think of the puking, the fights, the one-night stands ... We have to do something to make government fun to watch again.

Initiative Measure No. 1143

Initiative Measure No. 1143 concerns the day-to-day operation of the state legislature. It would require that all legislators wear jackets bearing the badges of the top donors to their campaigns. It would also require that all legislation be named after the donor or lobbyists who wrote it. Should this measure be enacted into law?

Comments - "The BIAW presents the Homebuyer Protection Act of 2011"

Initiative Measure No. 1153

Initiative Measure No. 1153 concerns the elections process in Washington state. It would allow the option of voting for "None of the above" in all future general election races. If "None of the above" receives the most votes, then the election is cancelled and new candidates shall be picked for an election to be held 60 days later. The previous candidates will also be publicly humiliated and fed to a giant garbage disposal dressed up to look like a Sarlacc. Should this measure be enacted into law?

Comments - I'm thinking we could get Don Rickles up here for the public humiliation part. Or maybe Gilbert Gottfried?

Initiative Measure No. 1158

Initiative Measure No. 1158 concerns election campaign advertising. It would prohibit the use of persons under the age of 18 in any campaign advertising. It would further prohibit candidates from using the words "kids" in any campaign advertisement, literature or speech. It would also prohibit campaigns from making arguments akin to "But think of the children!!!" Those found in violation of this law would be required to spend a week volunteering at a low-income day care center. And, yes, they would have to change poopy diapers. Without gloves. Should this measure be enacted into law?

Comments - This may need some tweaking for those candidates with significant criminal history, of course. And, fuck, I went over five sentences on that one. Damn it, this one needs some work.

Now, I just need a sugar daddy to sponsor my operation...

Speaking of ridiculous ads...

2010-10-25T22:52:00.000-07:00

Seriously? That's our choice? Your child will grow up to work in an office environment or they will be sitting under I-90 wearing a skull & crossbones cap. It all depends on how you vote on Proposition 1.

This is not the only (and far from the most egregious) example of this bullshit from this election cycle. It just happened to be the one that pissed me off today.

If this is all you have to back up your proposition/initiative/candidate, then you look like you really don't have much to stand on.

Scratch any cynic...

2010-10-22T17:35:00.000-07:00

*Yawn* Time for my bi-annual post. A few random thoughts/complaints regarding this year's election:

1) Initiatives suck. Boiling complex issues down to a paragraph and asking the general public to vote "yes" or "no" on them is not my idea of good government. That being said, if a certain government was doing its job, initiatives would not really be necessary. Case(s) in point: Initiatives 1098, 1100, 1105 and 1107. I'm voting Yes on 1098 and 1100, No on 1105 and None of the Above on 1107. 1098 and 1100 aren't perfect, but it beats waiting for the Dems to continue doing nothing about these issues. And, 1107? Fuck... Vote for a regressive tax or cut services? What kind of choice is that? Which brings me to...

2) The Democrats suck. All of these initiatives relate to issues the Legislature has had years to deal with (namely: the budget, our regressive tax system and privatizing liquor sales). This is nothing but a failure on the part of Democrats, who had a supermajority and the governor's mansion. It seems to me that all too often they chose to work toward maintaining that supermajority rather than using it. Our legislature could have shored up the budget a million different ways, but chose to do so with a regressive tax that targets items that (stereotypically, I'll admit) tend to be favored by working class and lower class families. A tax on soda but not on coffee or lattes? A tax on domestic beer but not microbrews? Really?

Because of Washington state Democrats, I have to choose between being able to buy liquor like an adult and reducing funding for cash-strapped local governments. I have to choose between a regressive sales tax and cutting even more needed funds. See, I always thought we paid the legislators to make tough decisions. We shouldn't be paying them to ask us to make lose-lose decisions. Well, at least they will probably maintain that majority so they can continue to do nothing for the next two years. Thanks Democrats!

3) Campaigns suck. One of the most entertaining aspects of Jon Stewart's "Rally to Restore Sanity" is the fact that so many people think it applies to the "other guys." No, it applies to us all. Hyperbole, exaggeration and lies are flying on all sides (except mine, of course!). Privatizing liquor sales is going to lead to more crime, domestic violence, intoxicated children and alcoholism? Really? Where's the evidence? High earners are going to pack their bags and leave Washington state? Really? Where are they going? It must be nice to live in a world where everything is just so damned black and white!

4) Judicial elections suck. Can you believe we actually ask people to vote for judges? Most people have a hard enough time identifying their Congressional representative. How many people know who any of these judges are and, more importantly, which of them are the most qualified. It's ridiculous. It's time to find a different way to handle judicial appointments.

5) Big corporations still suck. But don't use them as a blunt instrument to get liberal voters in line. Yes, these initiatives all have big money behind them. But so does just about every piece of legislation that actually makes it to the governor's desk and just about every candidate that makes it to Olympia. Given that, um, "level" playing field, it might be worth judging candidates and initiatives on their own merits.

Suffice it to say, I'm more than a little disappointed by this year's election. The state Dems* have left us with an absolute mess of initiatives to sort through and with the impending success of I-1053, I'm even more pessimistic than usual about the chances of seeing any sort of work being done in Olympia. At least I'll be able to buy some Jameson at Safeway to drown my sorrows...

* ~ I'll save my complaints about the federal Dems for another day...

Who will be the 56th?

2010-02-10T22:09:00.000-08:00

So, apparently the Spovangelist is my muse as she got me going again. The other day she pointed out a website advocating the creation of the 51st state: Eastern Washington. Yes, it's the old crybaby battle cry that just won't die.

For those without the time or the patience to wade through their hilarious website, let me break down the gist of the grievances as I understand them:

1) The government in Olympia doesn't understand our rural needs, despite the representatives we send there and the lobbyists our agricultural corporations send there.
2) The government in Olympia counts the votes of people in cities as being equal to those of people living in rural areas, leading to every election result being 87%-13% against rural. We are eternally screwed.
3) The government in Olympia won't let me dump chicken shit into the neighboring county's drinking water.
4) The government in Olympia is requiring our rural public schools to teach students facts, thereby destroying our culture.
5) The government in Olympia won't do exactly what I want them to do, when I want them to do it.

The only obvious solution to these problems, of course, is a new state. The problem, though, is that the site's author isn't looking far enough ahead. Because, as soon as Eastern Washington becomes state number 51, Spokane is going to start getting a little pissy. We're going to get sick and tired of these rural communities and their lack of responsiveness to our urban lifestyle, so Spokane County will quickly breakaway in to Spokanistan, the 52nd state. But, you know the city and county can't get along for too long, so inevitably we will have Spokompton, the 53rd state. And even within our fair city, I imagine folks in the northwest part of the city growing weary of the "liberal" dominance of the rest of the city and quickly, we will have Woodridge, the 54th state. Of course, I'm not going to like this too much and I'll soon have to form my own state: Petopia, the 55th state (Named, not after Peter Griffith, but after Le Petomane, the legendary French flatulist).

I imagine it won't take too long before we are a nation of over 300,000,000 states, each with a government willing to do exactly what we want it to do, when we want it done. And then, finally, everyone will be happy and we'll all have nothing to complain about. Right?

Oh shit!

2010-02-07T16:06:00.000-08:00

I almost forgot about the Inlander awards coming up. Apparently, if I post more often, I will pad my HUGE lead over all the other blogs in the race for the best blog in Spokane. So, here's a quicky to keep me in the running for the non-existent award...

Apparently, there has been some sort of argument about whether Bob Apple, a Democrat(?!), endorsed local caniphile John Ahern for state legislature, district 6. Jim Camden has some good coverage of the issue at Spin Control. Basically, Ahern says he did (and offered Apple's signature) and Apple says he didn't.

Apple's denial rubbed Spokesman letter writer Naomi Davis the wrong way ("Apple's claim shameful," February 6), leading her to shame Apple for casting doubt on the paragon of virtue and all that is right and just in Eastern Washington, John Ahern. Read the letter, it's worth a laugh. (At the moment, I'm still working to confirm that Naomi Davis is the pen name for Ahern's dog. More on this as it develops...)

Well, for starters, I don't really think that Bob Apple remembers what he was doing last week, much less what he was signing last year. So, I would tend to believe that Ahern is right on this one and I would also believe that Apple believes he is right, too.

But, think about it: they were buddy-buddy last year when Ahern and his tinfoil hat brigade came storming into the City Council chambers to save Spokane from an impending United Nations takeover, so is this endorsement really that hard to believe? (My favorite part of that whole incident was when, with Ban Ki-moon a fraction of a second away from thrusting his sword into an unsuspecting Apple's back, Ahern threw his Ahern-a-rang across the room, hitting Ban right between the eyes and knocking him unconscious, prompting the inevitable UN retreat. But, I digress...)

In the end, I really don't even understand why Apple is even running for the Legislature. He needs to stay close to home, to help carry on the tradition of hilarious/insane/embarassing local politics that we Spokanites have come to expect from the likes of him, Steve Hasson, Brad Stark, John Ahern, etc. So, Bob, stay home where you belong. We need you and your antics to help keep Spokane interesting.

Election day predictions

2009-11-03T12:52:00.000-08:00

Here is what I am ~~predicting~~ guessing (though not necessarily hoping) will happen tonight:

Initiative 1033 fails: 57-43

Referendum 71 is approved: 52-48

Proposition 1 passes: 61-39

Proposition 4 fails: 74-26

Amber Waldref wins City Council 1: 53-47

Mike Allen wins City Council 2: 50.5-49.5

Nancy McLaughlin wins City Council 3: 58-42

Tracy Staab wins Municipal Court Judge 1: 55-45

Heidi Olson wins District 81 Director 3: 52-48

Laura Carder wins District 81 Director 4: 54-46

Thoughts? Predictions?

Spokane School District 81 Board races

2009-10-20T16:12:00.000-07:00

I find the School District 81 board races this year to be a very interesting study in contrast. In one race, the question of who to vote for is a slam-dunk, no brainer. In the other, the question is a bit more difficult for me.

For Spokane School District 81 Director Position No. 3, I really think it is a toss-up. Both Heidi Olson and Jeff Bierman are thoughtful and qualified candidates for the job. In fact, I wish we could just put these two on the board and toss out Treppiedi and Carder altogether. But that is not the hand we have been dealt.

In past comments here, we've heard a lot about both candidates, so I won't go through all of that again. You can review the comments yourself. l also wholeheartedly encourage you all to look at both candidate's pages and to make your own decision on this matter. For myself, however, I have to give the nod to Jeff Bierman. Having someone with such a strong math and science background on the board can only be a positive for our school district. Our society is becoming increasingly technologically based. Having a populace that has some basic knowledge about this base will be as vital as having a populace that can read and write. I don't begrudge Heidi Olson, who I think would make a fine director (again, I would prefer her to Rocky), but I have to give the nod to Bierman on this one.

For Spokane School District 81 Director Position No. 4, it is anything but a toss-up (Unless you are tossing up your hands to ask "How the hell did Laura Carder make it through the primary?"). In this race we have Rocky Treppiedi (no web site that I am aware of), the shady city attorney, against Laura Carder, the lunatic creationist. Treppiedi, who has served on the school board for 12 years, has gotten some bad press of late as a result of his actions as a city attorney ("Feds unhappy with city attorney, Spokesman-Review). There has also been some criticism of the closed manner in which he runs school board meetings. In almost any other race, I would be voting against Treppiedi. Yet, in this race, he has my vote (with nose firmly plugged).

That alone speaks to the level of crazy that Laura Carder is threatening to bring to the school district. If you feel like punishing yourself, you can wade into Carder's crazy world by browsing her campaign web site. It's chock full of hilarious gems (For instance, did you know that Laura Carder is concerned that kids are not being taught not to litter at school? "When I was a child, they told us, 'Don't be a litter-bug!' and they meant it."). Of course, the cherry on top of Carder's banana split of lunacy is her desire to have creationism taught in the classroom. After the Spokesman-Review made note of this in their endorsement of Treppiedi, Carder sent a letter to the editor, proclaiming creationism to be "logical." If I was Rocky Treppiedi, I would print that letter on a postcard and mail it out with the words "Vote for Rocky!" at the bottom. That's really all it ought to take.

Still, Carder managed to get over 35 percent of the vote in the primary, which is a scary prospect. The low profile of school board races coupled with Treppiedi's notoriety have me a little nervous about the outcome of this race. So I must again emphasize the importance of holding your nose and voting for Rocky and encouraging others to do so. Granted there isn't a ton of damage that one lone nut on a board of five people can do, but the pride of our city and our school district demands that Laura Carder lose.

Approve Referendum 71

2009-10-17T15:22:00.000-07:00

A generation from now, Washingtonians will look back on 2009 with a sense of bewilderment. How the hell did it come to pass that the citizens of Washington actually voted on the right of two consenting adults to enter into a committed, legal relationship? What right did they have to decide who I, you, or anyone else should marry or commit ourselves to? Yet here we are, ballots in hand, staring Referendum 71 square in the face.

Opponents of Senate Bill 5688 warn that allowing these "everything-but-marriage" partnerships will eventually lead to the legalization of same-sex marriage and, therefore, the downfall of marriage and society, etc.*

In reality, SB 5688 does not deal with marriage. It simply provides domestic partners with the same benefits that married couples in Washington state receive. It means that partners will be able to visit each other in the hospital, that they will be able to receive workplace benefits normally reserved only for married couples and that families will be able to stay together in the event of one parent's death. The domestic partnership law also provides protections for senior citizens who might otherwise lose benefits if they were to remarry.

Still, voting to reject Referendum 71 ignores the trajectory of the issue of marriage equality. We will certainly see marriage equality in this country, most likely in our lifetimes. Currently five states (Massachusetts, Connecticut, Iowa, Vermont and New Hampshire) allow same-sex marriage and a sixth (Maine) could join them pending a vote next month.

And what have we seen in the states that allow same-sex marriage? Have we seen the decline of society and decaying morals? Hardly. Are these states now moving toward allowing three-way or four-way marriages, as some fear? Uh, no. Are people in Massachusetts lining up to marry their dogs, confirming John Ahern's worst nightmare (or wildest fantasy)? Obviously not. People are realizing that same-sex marriage is not the boogie man they were warned it was and it is gaining acceptance everyday. Do we want our state to be on the wrong side of history?

In the end, Referendum 71 is simply a matter of fairness and, if anything, will lead to stronger families in Washington state.

I wholeheartedly encourage you all to vote to Approve Referendum 71.

* ~ 4th LD Rep. Matt Shea, who is leading voice of the opposition, deserves special recognition for his own contributions to the institution of marriage: ("Divorced candidate promotes family values," Spokesman-Review, 7/31/08).

Help me out here: Olson v. Bierman

2009-10-14T17:40:00.000-07:00

I'm still struggling, trying to decide who to vote for between Heidi Olson and Jeff Bierman for Spokane Schools Director Position No. 3. In the primary I was leaning toward Bierman solely based on his academic credentials. But a commenter on that post suggested that Bierman is not willing to listen to other ideas and has a "unwavering biased agenda."

I'm not involved with the school district and I have never been to a school board meeting, so I have almost no direct experience with either of these candidates. So, I would love to hear from both Olson and Bierman supporters about who you support and why. Post your thoughts in the comments or e-mail me (spokane.skeptic [*at*] gmail [*dot*] com) if you want to remain anonymous and help me decide!

So I guess I've been doing The Internet wrong

2009-10-09T16:17:00.000-07:00

I was fortunate enough to come across a copy of "War Cry" the Salvation Army's magazine the other day (The July 18, 2009 edition). I was attracted to it's cover story which promised me "8 Ways to Stay Faithful Online." What are the eight ways, you ask? Well, first off, it's important to note that:

If you're not careful online, you can easily find yourself compromising your faith. The solution? Making sure that the values you live by offline guide the way you surf online.

The first way to stay faithful is "Don't do anything online that you wouldn't do offline." Now, I would never gank a level 16 mage offline, so am I therefore forbidden to do the same online? Faawwwk!

Also worth noting:

If you wouldn't go see a sexually explicit movie, in real life, don't visit a pornographic website. ... Before you click on any new page on the Internet, ask yourself: "Would I really honor God if I click here?"

But what if I click a link to god porn? I mean obvious he/she/it put those pictures online to be seen, wouldn't I be dishonoring her/him/it if I skipped over them?

The second way is to "Protect your computer and train yourself." Don't just rely on filtering software to keep yourself from looking at naked humans or other members of the animal kingdom or some perverted combination therein. You must also train yourself to not disable that filtering software. It's all about discipline!

The third way is "Beware of frauds." Wait, a religious organization is telling people to beware of frauds? Isn't that bad for business?

The fourth way is to "Examine your motives." Boring.

The fifth way is to "Be yourself."

When communicating with others online, identify yourself as a Christian whenever it's appropriate to do so, and make decisions that reflect what Jesus might do if He were online.

Hmmmm ... what would Jesus do if He were online? Well, considering he died about 2000 years ago, I imagine it would take him a while to get over indoor plumbing, much less computers and the internet. My guess is he'd run a machine with a super low resolution and forward cute pictures of cats and dogs to everyone, several times a day. And send several checks to Nigerian government officials.

The sixth way is really important: "Make yourself accountable." They suggest that you ask someone close to you to "meet with you regularly to discuss your online life and encourage you to set and maintain the right boundaries."

But what if that person is just as depraved as I am? What good would that do? Does it count if I chat online with close imaginary friends, like Jesus?

The seventh way is to "Unplug when necessary." Now, they aren't talking about pegging here. They are talking about actually unplugging your computer and, um, doing something else. Like pegging.

The final way is to "Minister to others online." They advise that you "Be creative as you think and pray through ways you can represent Christ well in cyberspace." Amongst the most popular ways to represent Christ in cyberspace, of course, are: Preparing people for the rapture, condemning homosexuality, arguing against evolution and praying for the death of the President.

So, that's it. I learned a lot about how to use Teh Internets safely and I hope you did, too. Still, I feel like something is missing. I just don't do well with these loosey-goosey, open-to-interpretation rules. Wouldn't this be easier if they had drawn up some official rules for the Internet in the Bible or the Qur'an or in Dianetics or something? I mean, they can't honestly expect me to regulate my own behavior, can they?

Envision Spokane and Concern Trolling

2009-10-04T13:55:00.001-07:00

So, I’ve noticed this not-so-subtle concern troll campaign being mounted against Jon Snyder in the comment sections of local blogs and Spokesman.com articles. A prime example of this can be found on my previous post about people dishonestly tying candidates to Envision Spokane where “Tim” comments:

“I still do not understand why Jon Snyder says he is against Envision Spokane when as of Sept 30th, 25% of people who gave money to Envision Spokane also game to Jon Snyder's campaign. Our friends can certainly help define us. (www.pdc.org)”

This sort of tactic baffles me.

First, who are the people who support Envision Spokane supposed to give money to? Mike Allen? While Snyder has pretty clearly articulated his opposition to Prop 4/Envision Spokane, his views are likely to be more in line with most Envision Spokane supporters than are the views of Mike Allen. Big deal. Mike Allen’s views are likely to be more in line with Rush Limbaugh’s, but does that make Allen a Limbaugh acolyte? Obviously not. It probably means, however, that Limbaugh’s acolytes are more likely to give money to Allen. Again, big deal. Hopefully, most voters are able to rise above such binary thinking.

Second, how likely is it that a commenting campaign like this (and make no mistake – the similarity of the comments suggests an intentional campaign) is even going to be effective? For the purposes of illustrating this point, let’s consider a conversation that is completely incredibly unbelievably unlikely to ever happen:

Scene, a Spokane living room
Person 1: You know, I think I am going to vote for Jon Snyder.
Person 2: Oh, shit, don’t do that dude. I read in the comments section of a month-old Spokane Skeptic article that 25% of his donors also gave money to Envision Spokane.
Person 1: Really? That’s fucking terrible! I hate Envision Spokane. They’re a bunch of Fascist Socialist Communist Liberals!
Person 2: Yep. Let’s vote for Mike Allen instead.
Person 1: OK!

I doubt that any of this blog’s five readers are going to be swayed by such a nonsensical argument. I further doubt that the majority of voters pay attention to any of these blogs or comments.

So, on one hand, I guess I shouldn’t care if someone wants to waste their time on something like this. On the other hand, I hate it when people make dishonest arguments. So I guess I am going to just have to call bullshit on Tim and call it a day.

Low-information voters

2009-08-31T17:15:00.000-07:00

A low-information voter is the euphemistic term for a person who votes with very little (if any) knowledge of who or what they are voting for. It might also describe someone who votes for a person for trivial reasons (i.e., "I'd like to have a beer with him!" or "She just seems so nice!"). They are the voters who don't pay attention, don't research races and are relatively open to manipulation by 30-second commercials or 5-second sound bites.

Now, it's bad enough when citizens choose to vote in this manner. I know people have jobs/lives/kids/etc., but it really doesn't take a lot of time to learn the basics about candidates and issues.

It is, however, taking it to a whole new level when a United States Senator openly declares himself to be a low-information voter:

At a town hall meeting Wednesday Sen. Jim Inhofe (R-Okla.) told Chickasha residents he does not need to read the 1,000 page health care reform bill, he will simply vote against it.

"I don't have to read it, or know what's in it. I'm going to oppose it anyways," he said.

("Inhofe slams health reform, The Chickasha Express-Star)

/facepalm

I had no idea it was possible to cram so much stupidity into a mere two sentences (or 51 words).

So, why is it that Senator Inhofe is choosing to go low-information on this vote? Well, it turns out that "public opinion and information provided by news media have helped him become a staunch non-supporter of the bill." That wouldn't happen to be the "liberal media" would it?

H/T to Haust for the link to the article

Fish in a barrel

2009-08-30T23:14:00.001-07:00

From CNN's political ticker this evening ("Tea Party Express cruises through Nevada"):

If you're going to go to all the trouble of making a sign denouncing socialism to attach to your pitchfork, at least make sure you have spelled "Socialist" correctly. I would also advise spelling "will" correctly, too. Otherwise, people might think you're a nut or something...

A great letter

2009-08-21T16:00:00.000-07:00

I've spent a great deal of time pointing out the embarrassingly silly letters that get printed in the Spokesman-Review (of which there seems to be no shortage). I think that today, however, I will point out a great letter written by Graham Andrews of Spokane ("Denial reveals small minds," Spokesman.com). The letter references Johnathan Brunt's August 9 article on the candidates views on global warming ("Council candidates split on global warming's cause, Spokesman.com).

My favorite part of the letter:

But the most troubling aspect is that our society has become so scientifically illiterate that they feel, perhaps correctly, that their stupidity will not affect their chances of election. It is the same malaise that allows people to freely admit they can’t do math even though they would die of embarrassment before admitting that they can’t read or write, and the media bear a heavy responsibility for it.

So true. This conveniently gives me yet another opportunity to pull out one of my (many) favorite Carl Sagan quotes on this subject:

We've arranged a civilization in which most crucial elements profoundly depend on science and technology. We have also arranged things so that almost no one understands science and technology. This is a prescription for disaster. We might get away with it for a while, but sooner or later this combustible mixture of ignorance and power is going to blow up in our faces.

This world desperately needs another Carl Sagan...

Two questions on election night

2009-08-18T21:38:00.001-07:00

As I look over the results from tonight's primary election, I'm left with a couple of obvious questions:

So, who are the Democrats going to endorse in council district 3 now?! Nice work there team. I for one will remember this when I am forced to choose between the hateful homophobe and the anti-science homophobe in November.
Laura Carder?!?! Laura Fucking Carder made it through to the general election?! Are you serious? What the hell happened there? I can't believe that people are actually going to have rally around Rocky Treppiedi of all people in order to keep that lunatic off the school board.

I'll think about things and, perhaps, expand upon these thoughts later. But for now, I need a drink. Ugh.

Who supports Envision Spokane?

2009-08-13T21:04:00.000-07:00

Well, as far as I can tell, none of the City Council candidates do. Yet, I keep hearing that some individuals are attempting to attach certain city council candidates to the Community Bill of Rights.

So far, the most blatant attempts to do so have been directed at district 1 candidate Amber Waldref. Tim Eyman got the ball rolling on Jim Camden's Spin Control blog, where he posted several ridiculous/hysterical comments wherein he repeatedly referred to Waldref as a "crazy-wacko-Seattle-greenie, 'Envision-Spokane-supporter'"** (Story: "News flash: Eyman backs Fagan," Spin Control). Frankly, it was obnoxious.

The fun continued over at The Inlander where Rob Chase, who is involved with the Campaign for Liberty (the teabaggers), took a stab at tying Waldref to Envision Spokane in the comments of a couple of stories (here and here). This despite the fact that he was present at the Campaign for Liberty's candidate forum where Waldref clearly stated her opposition to Envision Spokane. Perhaps he was spacing out when she said it...?

In any event, you can simply go here to read Waldref's comments on Envision Spokane's "Community Bill of Rights" first hand. She does not support it and, for that matter, neither do Jon Snyder or John Waite. All three candidates have made it clear when asked directly at forums and in comments on the Internet.

I guess if there is a silver lining to all of this nonsense, it's that these tactics suggest that the opponents of these candidates (especially Waldref) are getting desperate. To have prominent supporters of your campaign engage in tactics like this tells me that your campaign is grasping at straws.

So, hey, if you happen across someone attempting to tie any candidate to Envision Spokane, feel free to correct them. The best remedy for a dishonest argument is a little truth.

*****

** ~ Interestingly, after he had spent enough time engaging in flame wars with Spokesman.com readers, Eyman's buddy (and Waldref's opponent) Mike Fagan finally showed up to "raise the level of discourse" a bit. He proceeded to declare, essentially, that Envision Spokane is part of a United Nations conspiracy. Fagan stated, "Why doesn't the spokesman or any other paper in this city do an expose on this bill of rights, Envision Spokane, and the trail leading all the way up to the UN?" Just what the city council needs, even more representation for the conspiracy theorist crowd.

What is this "Monroe Court Ltd. Partnership"?

2009-08-08T18:59:00.000-07:00

(UPDATED BELOW 8/9/09)

I love the Public Disclosure Commission web site. It is an incredible tool and should be used by all interested and dedicated voters. Through the site, anyone can look up who donated what to which campaign. It can be both fun and informative to see who is supporting the various candidates.

Sometimes, however, deciphering the listings takes a little bit more research on the Washington state web site. For instance, "W & K Investments" donated $1,000 to Nancy McLaughlin's campaign. Boy, "W & K Investments" is sure investing a lot of money in furthering the "theory" of "global cooling" and talk of United Nations conspiracies. I wonder who "W & K Investments" really is.... Well, a quick click over to the Department of Licensing business license search web site and I see that "W & K Investments" is really "Walt & Karen Worthy Investments." Clever. But why not just donate to McLaughlin as Walt Worthy? Hmmmmm.....

Another one that has really left me scratchin' my old noggin is this "Monroe Court Ltd. Partnership." Monroe Court has donated $1,500 to both Nancy McLaughlin and to Mike Allen making them the top donor to both campaigns. So.... who is behind this "Monroe Court"?

Turns out, according to the Department of Licensing again, Monroe Court is a partnership between Dr. Marcus DeWood, a local cardiologist and developer, and something called "N Pacific General, Inc." Well, Pacific General Contracting, Inc., is owned by Dr. DeWood and his wife, Luann Padgham.

Of course, it doesn't end there. In May 2008, on a 6-1 vote (Richard Rush was the lone vote against), the Spokane City Council overturned a decision by the city hearing examiner and allowed for a zoning change that would allow for the construction of a 150-foot tower west of the courthouse (Story: "Spokane council vote allows proposed tower near courthouse," Spokesman.com). The developers behind the tower? Marcus DeWood and Luann Padgham (No word on the rumor -- that I just started -- that Dr. DeWood is talking with David Elton about building a skyscraper in Browne's Addition, too).

And it gets even more interesting. Spokane County District Court Commissioner Brad Chinn, who lives near the courthouse, fought against the zoning change. This, in turn, caused the City Council to raise "conflict of interest" concerns when Mayor Mary Verner nominated him to be one of three judges on the new Municipal Court (Story: "Verner withdraws municipal court pick," Spokesman.com). Verner withdrew him as one of her picks and replaced him with Shelley Szambelan.

Quoth our esteemed Council President, Joe Shogan, in the article:

“It’s very uncomfortable to be acting on an appointment by a person who is at the same time a party to a land-use appeal before City Council.”

Though I'm sure it's not at all uncomfortable to accept $1,500 in campaign contributions, a year after voting to overrule the city hearing examiner on a land-use decision, from a person who benefited greatly from that vote.

The story takes a turn for the weird when Dr. DeWood filed (but was denied) a records request for Commissioner Chinn's computer because he thought that Chinn was using court time and his court computer to fight the case. From the article:

Asked if he had any proof that Chinn has or is using his office computer to work on the case, DeWood said: “I don’t. But how do I know he isn’t?”

Asked if it’s possible that Chinn used a home computer to work on the case, DeWood said: “I just don’t think he has one. That’s just my opinion.”

Boy, that's a pretty bold accusation to make when one is lacking any proof. That would be like me saying that Marcus DeWood and Luann Padgham bought Nancy McLaughlin and Mike Allen's votes on the zoning change issue. I don't have any evidence to support the statement, but how do I know it isn't true? Hm? That's just my opinion.

There is yet another little oddity in this matter that has me scratching my head. Last year, while Steve Eugster was before the State Supreme Court on ethics charges, Marcus DeWood wrote a brief in support of Eugster (of his own volition he attests). In that letter, DeWood gushes about Eugster, stating, "He's among the most ethical lawyers and citizens I've ever met," and "I've never seen such a giving ethical man." He closes the letter by noting that "Steve Eugster has my full trust and support."

So, if DeWood thinks so highly of Eugster, why give $1,500 to his opponent in the City Council race? That seems to be kind of a dick move on his part.

In the end, the issue of whether or not there is any sort of impropriety in the campaign contribution is probably unknowable. What is certain, however, is that the contribution smells like a huge conflict of interest to me, and looks bad for both parties. No wonder Dr. DeWood and Ms. Padgham gave the money as the "Monroe Court Ltd. Partnership" instead of under their real names.

Now do you see what I'm talking about? Isn't the PDC web site just buckets of fun? There are all sorts of conflicts of interest to be found there! I wonder what I'll find next...

*****

UPDATE (8/9/09): After a little further digging, it seems that this matter is actually still before the City Council. On December 30, 2008, the original decision by the city Hearing Examiner was upheld in Superior Court, overturning the City Council's decision. Chinn's formal appeal was heard by the City Council on February 9, 2009. On March 2, the Council voted unanimously to table any decision on the appeal until after the court case was resolved, which is where it stands today.

2009 primary election thoughts, part 3

2009-08-08T17:12:00.000-07:00

OK, now on to Spokane City Council district 3. As with district 2, I will be assigning completely arbitrary scores to candidates based completely on my own personal biases/complexes. It's like playing Dungeons and Dragons, only way nerdier.

As always, I encourage everyone to read up as much as possible on all of the candidates and to form their own opinions. A good source of basic information about all of the candidates is the online-only voters guide available here. I've also linked to the candidate web sites where available.

Karen Kearney: Kearney is commonly billed as a "women and children's advocate." Her main issue is public safety, which is not surprising given that she is supported by the police and fire unions (which might have a little to do with Nancy McLaughlin voting against raises for the fire department). While her role as an advocate sounds all warm and fuzzy, Kearney has been the author of some homophobic letters to the editor. Most of her appearances during the election season have seen her try to backtrack, stating that she will represent all of the people of her district regardless of their "race, greed or lifestyle choices." I give Kearney +5 for calling out McLaughlin during a candidates forum for attempting to take a poll at a council meeting. I give her -20 for her letters.
Barbara Lampert: I have to say that Barbara Lampert is a hoot. She has a great sense of humor (though one would have to in order to have run for office as often as she has). Her ideas aren't entirely bad, either. I give her +5 for persistence and another +5 for wanting to outlaw vicious dogs. Why do people think it's OK to let their pitbulls wander free? Get a fence and/or a leash. Sheesh.
Nancy McLaughlin (incumbent): What can I say about McLaughlin that I haven't said before? McLaughlin is a pure embarrassment to the city and she needs to go. -1000 points for putting forth "global cooling" as her "theory" of choice. -1000 points for encouraging Cindy Zapotocky and John Ahern's United Nations paranoia. -50 points for her donors list (visit the PDC to view it), which is a who's who of local developers (She's already raised almost twice as much money as anyone else in the race). I will, however, award +5 points for telling the Inlander that her favorite drink is "Corona Light with lime, margarita or red wine." That is one stiff Corona. :P
Victor Noder: I finally had my curiosity satisfied when I learned that "VTG," which is on all of Noder's wooden campaign signs around town, stands for "Victor the Green." That was driving me crazy. Yet, it is kind of emblematic of Noder's campaign as I am having a hard time reading him. His stances aren't entirely clear to me (note to prospective candidates: if you have a web site, make sure it is finished before election day). Still, he seems like someone who would approach issues with an open mind and a willingness to look at evidence. -5 points for the incomplete web site. +5 points for the unique campaign signs.
Christopher Stevens: Stevens is owner of a local medicinal marijuana dispensary. He was actually featured on the front page of the Spokesman back in June for a story on these dispensaries. I haven't actually seen or heard a lot about Stevens as he has been absent from the forums I've seen. I have not found a web site for him either. His listing in the voters guide sounds good, but lacks detail. In the end, I give him +10 for his dispensary and -5 for a lack of information.
John Waite: Waite is the owner of Merlyn's downtown and I believe this is his second run for the City Council. Waite's main goals are to balance the city budget and to bring more transparency to local government. Waite describes himself as socially liberal and fiscally conservative. He is someone who obviously has a deep passion for politics. I give Waite +20 points for owning a comic book shop (though I deduct 3 points for the "One More Day." He obviously had nothing to do with that, but I still have some residual nerd-rage/PTSD going on over that storyline. As far as I'm concerned, the comic book universe still owes me $16.). I'll also throw in +5 points for his web site/blog which is thorough and raw, showing his real personal views and opinions on all things political.
My leaning: Definitely John Waite. 'Nuff said. Waite will not only bring his liberal social views to the council, but he will balance those views nicely with a tough fiscal side. Don't be fooled, however, by the "fiscal conservative" label. Waite's conservatism comes out of concern for working-class and poor families who bear an undue tax burden under our state's regressive tax system. This is going to be a big issue in coming years and it will be important to have people like Waite at the table to work on it.

Now, if you haven't already, get your ballot in the mail or in an election box as soon as possible. The most recent statistics that I saw showed that registered voters in the 3rd Legislative district had only returned about 10.9 percent of their ballots compared to 15.1 percent in the 6th Legislative district. Waite (and Amber Waldref and Jon Snyder) are helped greatly by a good turnout in the left-leaning 3rd.

2009 primary election thoughts, part 2

2009-08-04T22:20:00.000-07:00

Let's move on to the two contested Spokane City Council primaries, starting with district 2. I've assigned the candidates completely arbitrary, superficial and subjective scores because ... well, because I feel like it. It beats a coin toss.

In all seriousness, I encourage everyone to read up as much as possible on all of the candidates and to form their own opinions. A good source of basic information about all of the candidates is the online-only voters guide available here. I've also linked to the candidate web sites where available.

Mike Allen (incumbent): Allen was appointed to fill the seat vacated by Mary Verner when she was elected mayor in 2007. All things being equal, his time in office has been relatively inoffensive (of course anyone's time on the council seems inoffensive when seated next to Nancy McLaughlin). Still, he seems just a little too business and developer friendly for my tastes. I give Allen +5 points for saying telling the Inlander that bourbon is his favorite drink. I give him -20 for the top of his donor list, viewable at the Public Disclosure Commission web site. $1,000 from Avista? $1,500 from Monroe Court? Even more from other developers?
David Elton: As I've noted here before, Elton is a passionate and driven candidate. His focus, however, is bit off. His comment that police issues were far more important than "mundane issues like the budget" is an example of that misplaced focus. I give Elton +10 points for giving his honest opinions, even if they aren't popular. I give him -15 for wanting to build a skyscraper in Browne's Addition.
Steve Eugster: Eugster has presented some interesting ideas so far and his blog has been very entertaining as of late. His main theme has been the "politics of good things." He's been speaking out against government providing these "good things" at the expense of "essential services." I give Eugster +5 for his blog and his rants against Joe Shogan. I give him -10 for having his law license suspended for 18 months.
Greg Ridgley: Ridgley is young. What else can I say? On one hand I think that it is great that an 18-year-old is taking such an active interest in local politics. On the other hand, I absolutely cringe at the thought of people today holding me accountable for the political statements I would have made when I was 18. College is a place where people tend to grow. A lot. It would be unfair to be too harsh on Mr. Ridgley given his youthfulness. No score assigned.
Kristina Sabestinas: The lone "official" Republican in the race, Sabestinas has been relatively low on information (her website is remarkably barren of details). She seems to be the typical pro-business, anti-tax Republican, but it's hard to tell without more details. Sabestinas recently had a baby, which may explain the lack of campaign updates. In the end I simply give her -10 points for working for Cathy McMorris Rodgers.
Jon Snyder: Snyder is the publisher of OutThere Monthly and a newcomer to politics. His focus is on quality of life and creating an atmosphere in Spokane that encourages young and innovative people to move here. He describes himself as a "professional dot connector" who wants to bring energy and creativity to the Council. Snyder gets +20 points for the fact that the top 15 donors to his campaign are all human beings and not businesses or PACs. I'll toss in an additional +5 for not shopping at Wal-Mart.
My leaning: Let's tally it up ... and ... it's Snyder all the way. His energy and enthusiasm will bring a much-needed boost to the council. He has a dedication to environmental issues, but also a sense of pragmatism to balance it out. For instance, he is opposed to the use of Conservation Futures money to purchase the YMCA based on his opinion that the "sanctity" of the Conservation Futures program is more valuable than the YMCA site.

Next up is district 3, followed by a note on the public safety tax. I make no promises as to when those will be posted. :P

2009 primary election thoughts, part 1

2009-08-03T17:21:00.000-07:00

I'm starting off with some thoughts on the Spokane School District 81 Board of Directors races. These types of races drive me crazy because there isn't a ton of information available about the candidates and their low exposure means you're typically left deciding whose platitudes sound better to you. Detail can be hard to come by. Still, I'll give it my best shot...

My information is primarily coming from the online-only voters guide, Spokesman.com, candidate websites and the League of Women Voters forum broadcast on City Cable 5 and available for online viewing here.

First up, is director position number 3:

Jeff Bierman (incumbent): Bierman is big on science, which immediately appeals to me. He has a PhD in Nuclear Physics from the University of Washington (even more bonus points) and is currently a physics professor at Gonzaga. Bierman was appointed to the this position in September 2008. Bierman's primary stated focus is increasing the range of academic course offerings and programs. He is also wants to see all students being challenged academically at all levels. Bierman is in favor of assessment tests, but only those that can be turned around quickly enough to help the students taking them. He critiques the WASL for taking too long to administer and grade, so it was not something that could be accepted as feed back to help improve the education of the students who had taken it. He seems very much in favor of high academic standards and reviews of him on ratemyprofessor.com suggest that this is reflected in his own college courses.
Deana Brower: Brower is a former educator who has more recently volunteered with Citizens for Spokane Schools and served as a member of the Spokane Schools Citizens Advisory Committee on Human Growth and Development. Her stated focus is increasing community involvement in local schools. She states that she wants to get all the stakeholders involved and spend time listening to what people want from public schools. Brower is also not a fan of the WASL and would like assessment testing that looks at a multitude of skill sets that a student may possess.
Heidi Olsen: Olsen has a Masters in Education and has taught at the primary, secondary and college levels. Her stated focus is the drop out rate and the lack of female representation on the current school board. Olsen spent a lot of time talking about "cultural orientation" at the voters forum, referring to whether we wanted education that was collective or individualized. Should schools teach in a collective manner, expecting students to master a standardized set of skills? Or, should schools encourage students to pursue individual strengths and interests? At one point, she stated that this issue was at the root of education problems. She specifically cited Bierman's and Brower's answers with regard to standardized testing as examples of this split. Olsen also spent a lot of time talking about the need for female input on the school board and the importance of mothers in education.
My leanings: I'm definitely leaning toward Bierman for the primary. I appreciate his desire to challenge students at all levels, which does not always happen for gifted students. I feel like his math and science background will be of great value to the board, as well. I don't think the Brower or Olsen would be wrong for the position (again, it's hard to tell without more information), but I like Bierman just a bit more at this point.

Secondly, we have director position number 4:

Laura Carder: Wow. That's all I can say after watching her performance at the voters forum. Carder is a also a former educator who holds degrees in music and math. Her stated focus seems to be combating "ignorance" and getting the "mainstream media" out of schools. She is strongly in favor of more local control over schools. Unsurprisingly, she also advocates the teaching of creationism in public schools. Carder ended the forum by noting that students are not allowed to bring bibles to schools (news to me) and that students are not allowed to say "Merry Christmas" at schools (news to me) but that they are allowed to "cuss and swear" (again, news to me). Carder also called on any student who feels that they were treated or graded unfairly for not being "politically correct" to contact her whether she is on the school board or not. She then gave out her web address (www.lcarder.com). I could not visit her web site, however, because both Google and my anti-virus software warned me that it could potentially harm my computer. I don't, however, think I'm missing much except perhaps a good laugh.
Austin DePaolo: DePaolo has been involved with local community organizations for years, including the Martin Luther King, Jr Family Outreach Center. His stated focus was on bringing change to the board. He cited Rocky Treppiedi's 13 year board tenure and pledged to run for no more than two terms. DePaolo wants to see high standards and high expectations set for students. He also wants to see that every budget dollar is spent wisely. He states that he would review programs and toss out those that are not effective. He also wants to increase community involvement in schools and build support from the community to make changes.
Rocky Treppiedi (incumbent): Treppiedi has served on the school board for 13 years and is the current president of the board. He responded to DePaolo's critique of his longevity by noting that his experience was needed on the board, given that everyone else on the board was currently in their first term. Indeed, Garrett Daggett is second-longest serving board member and he has only been around since 2005. Treppiedi's stated focus is to make change, noting that the culture at the schools for years has allowed teachers to teach to the "lowest common denominator." Like most every other candidate, he also supports high academic standards. Treppiedi's hope is that now that legislature has passed a law requiring the state to fully fund basic education, the board finally has "critical mass" to enact change. Treppiedi plays up his experience and insight as his greatest strength and best reason to keep him on the board.
My leanings: Well, obviously not Laura Carder. She's automatically disqualified from running for the school board based on the fact that she wants to teach kids the Earth is 6,000 years old. I think that Treppiedi's experience can be an asset for the board. I imagine it takes quite a bit of time to learn the inner and outer workings of a large organization like Spokane Public Schools. Still, I can also see some benefit to the new perspective, energy and community connections that DePaolo can bring to the board. So, I'm calling it a toss up between those two. Hopefully, both will make it through the primary and we will get a chance to see more contrast between them before November.

The lack of "contrast" or "mud slinging" or simple critiques in these races does make choosing between candidates a bit challenging (and boring). Is Treppiedi's longevity the only reason that DePaolo is running against him, or is there some other issue driving him? Likewise, I would love to hear Deana Brower and Heidi Olsen talk specifically about why they would be better than Jeff Bierman and each other on the school board.

If you have any insight or knowledge about the candidates or the issues, I'd love to hear from you either in the comments or by e-mail. The more information, the better, especially in these low-profile races.

Tomorrow, I'll be moving on to the City Council races, which I hope will be far more entertaining...

Some quick notes

2009-07-30T17:04:00.001-07:00

First off, the shit has indeed hit the fan between David Elton and Steve Eugster after Eugster made a post on his blog questioning whether Elton had an "Oedipus complex." Eugster edited it but reposted the original comment after Elton started in on him over email. Johnathan Brunt has more on this over at Jim Camden's Spin Control blog. Eugster's blog also has more, along with a funny little note about Mike Allen.

Second, I updated my previous post on the Spokane Democrats to include a reply from Amy Biviano, chair of the Spokane County Democratic Central Committee.

Third, I just got my ballot today and I'm planning to put out some of my own opinions on the primary races over the weekend.

Finally, "Contrarian" who has offered up what he himself calls "curmudgeonly" comments on this blog and others has started a blog of his own at FreeSpokane.net. He presents it as an opportunity for us "leftists" to take revenge on him for all of his comments. I would definitely put Contrarian in the same category that I put Steve Eugster: I don't always agree with him, but I am interested in hearing what he has to say.

The local Democrats needs some help...

2009-07-29T17:33:00.000-07:00

An e-mail arrived in my inbox yesterday, informing me that, in the City Council races, the Spokane Democrats had endorsed Jon Snyder and Amber Waldref and ... and ... um, well, that was it. There was no endorsement for John Waite or anyone else in district 3 for that matter.

This just annoys me to no end. As I've said before, Waite's positions are pretty well in line with those of the local Dems. While Waite is an independent, there are no other Democrats in the race. There is simply no other reason to not endorse him other than petty politics (if there are, I would love to hear them). The Democrats need to toss politics aside and stand up for the issues and the people of district 3. I can't imagine any of them really want to bear another four years of Nancy McLaughlin and her UN conspiracies and global cooling theories.

So, I am of the mind that perhaps the local Democrats need a little bit of help in making the decision to endorse Waite. That is where you come in. Take a look at Waite's page and, if you like what he has to say, let the Democrats know about it. Spread the word and let's try to help the Democrats see the light.

You can contact the Spokane Democrats at vote@spokanedemocrats.org

*****

UPDATE (7/30/09): I received a reply to my question about this matter from Amy Biviano, chair of the Spokane Democratic Central Committee. Here it is in its entirety:

Hello Nick,

Thank you for reading our emails, being involved in the local elections and for speaking up. We need all citizens to be informed and to get involved.

You have encountered one of the more difficult decisions our party has to make: whether to endorse nonpartisan candidates and the timing of such endorsements. While we have a couple of Spokane City Council races where we feel comfortable endorsing a clear candidate, these are the only in races where just one candidate sought our endorsement. The district 3 race, as you might have seen at the Central Committee meeting on July 11th, had two potential Democrats seeking our endorsement. When this occurs, we cannot endorse before, but after the primary are free to endorse one of the remaining candidates.

While we may personally have strong allegiance to one candidate over another, the party will not endorse in this situation. I suggest to you, as I have to many others, that if you feel inspired to support a candidate, please do so. You can begin by door belling, phone banking, donating to their campaigns and even writing letters to the editor in their support. Never underestimate the value of individual action.

Once the primaries are over, we will reevaluate the party's position. I'll look forward to your input in the next Central Committee meeting.

I hope to see you at the Salmon Feed on Saturday. You can also keep abreast of party activities by visiting the website: www.spokanedemocrats.org. Thank you again for your input and have a good evening.

Amy

I'm still not happy with this position. In Seattle, for instance, Democrats vote on who their particular district will endorse in campaigns. This includes the option for dual endorsements. So, it would seem entirely possible to me for the Spokane Democrats to endorse both John Waite and Victor Noder (who I assume is the other candidate she references) as a dual endorsement. I mean, who will they endorse if we wind up stuck with Nancy McLaughlin vs. Karen Kearney in November?

Thoughts on the City Council candidates forum

2009-07-28T12:58:00.001-07:00

I had the opportunity on Friday to check out the Spokane City Council candidates forum at Auntie's Bookstore. I only got to see the district 2 portion of the forum as I had to leave early for the Sonic Youth show (Who schedules something like this opposite a Sonic Youth concert? Sheesh. :P ). I had hoped that, what with all the cameras and recording devices around, I might be able to view the district 3 portion of the forum online - but no luck with that so far (anyone know where I can find it?).

Anyhow, only four of the six candidates for district 2 were present at the forum. Kristina Sabestinas and Greg Ridgley were not present (apparently due to scheduling conflicts). The candidates that were there took turns answering questions from moderator Breean Beggs of the Center for Justice.

Let's start with a couple questions I had about the forum as a whole:

What was with the second question they asked? It was something like "Is there a group of people who exercise control over politics in Spokane?" (I don't remember the exact wording). Quite the loaded question. I think what they really wanted to ask was, "Could you please rip on the Cowles family for the next minute?" David Elton was the only one who took the bait.
Why have Breean Beggs moderate if he is only going to be asking other people's questions and not his own? You could just as easily program a computer to do that.

Onto the candidates themselves:

David Elton: Elton left quite the impression, suffice it to say. Amongst his highlights were: nominating Steve Eugster and Beggs to be the police ombudsman (both declined), suggesting the construction of a skyscraper in Browne's Addition to improve the view of the city from I-90, stating in response to a question about sustainability "The way to sustain our city is to make sure no one is being killed by policemen", and finally adding that addressing police issues were more important that "mundane issues like the budget." It was quite the performance and even warranted a comment on Eugster's own blog. Elton did get some snickers from the audience, but I think it goes without saying that you have to at least respect the fact that he is putting himself out there and doing something beyond just talking. Even if what he is saying is a little ... different.
Mike Allen: Allen was his usual centrist self, attempting to appeal to the liberal audience by stating that he voted for the sustainability action plan (while neglecting to mention the unnecessary amendment he added to it). He also toed the council line on the police ombudsman issue. From my perspective, he definitely seemed to be lacking in the energy department for much of the forum.
Steve Eugster: I don't agree with everything that Eugster says, but I can't deny that I do enjoy hearing him speak. He made some interesting points about sustainability (relating to our beloved waste-to-energy plant) and about the ombudsman. Specifically, he suggested that the council itself has investigatory authority and subpoena power and could conduct investigations of its own (rather than wasting the first hour patting themselves on the back). This is definitely an idea I'd like to hear more about. For the "Cowles question," Elton attempted to set Eugster up to go off about the Cowles, but he did not and instead made a very good point about voter apathy being the real controlling factor in Spokane politics.
Jon Snyder: While not nearly as polished as Eugster or Allen, I thought Snyder definitely made up for it with enthusiasm. He made quality of life his big focus and talked about creating a city that draws young and innovative people. He even threw out a reference to Sonic Youth and James Pants. Snyder also had a great line responding to Eugster's comments about the city council investigating police misconduct noting "we could be fixing potholes, too," but that some things were best left to experts.

All told, I am still strongly in favor of Snyder, who I think will bring some great ideas and enthusiasm to the council. Honestly, though, I could live with Eugster if for no other reason than to watch him go toe-to-toe with Joe Shogan on Monday nights. It would be like the late 90s/early 2000s all over again!

Remember that ballots should begin arriving by mail later this week. Spend some time visiting candidates web sites and other outlets so you can make an informed decision on August 18.

(On a side note: The Sonic Youth show was great. It was my second time seeing them live - the first time was something of an oddity - and they really put on an outstanding show.)

*****

UPDATE (7/29/09):

From the comments, John Waite has posted the following replay times for the candidate's forum on KYRS:

Wednesday, August 5th at 1:00 PM
Thursday, August 6th at 10:00 AM
Friday, August 7th at 1:00 PM
Friday, August 14th at 1:00 PM

There are also plans to broadcast the forum on Community-Minded TV (cable channel 14).

LeAnna Benn will never give up!

2009-07-22T20:08:00.000-07:00

Sadly, I missed the moment at the end of June where federal funding for abstinence-only sex education ended. I had hoped to mark the occasion with a rather boisterous, Nelson Muntz-like, "Ha ha!" Cheryl Wetzstein of the Washington (Nutty) Times spewed forth a column on the special day, however, even getting some comments from local buffoon, LeAnna Benn, "National Director" of Teen Aid, Inc. ("Abstinence end just one defeat," Washington Times).

Benn wastes no time in reinforcing the black-and-white abstinence-or-not argument that her and her ilk have made a living off of:

LeAnna Benn, founder of Teen-Aid in Spokane, Wash., said that losing federal abstinence dollars will make it harder to teach teens about healthy friendships and relationships.

Instead, she said, youths will get classes aimed at teaching them about the products and services they will need when they become sexually active. Washington state, for instance, mandates comprehensive sex education, she said, "and the main learning objective is to make sure kids know how to get the family planning ... it's all about referrals."

Mrs. Benn, who has taught abstinence education since 1978, is also confident that once the abstinence money is fully redirected, its opponents will start ignoring it again.

"You can quote me on this: As soon as there is no more abstinence money, family planners will quit talking about abstinence," she said. "I've been through these cycles before."

So there it is, folks: Either your kids get abstinence-only education, or they get education from the "condom worshippers," who will teach them nothing of abstinence. What a choice Ms. Benn presents.

The inconvenient reality, however, is that comprehensive sex education is just that; offering students information about all options, including abstinence. What the hell is wrong with presenting people with information and allowing them to make an informed decision? (Of course when you are dealing with Teen-Aid, you had better be certain that information is accurate...)

It's also worth noting that the Centers for Disease Control (Hey, didn't Teen-Aid falsely claim that they endorsed their curriculum?) is also concerned that we're starting to backslide a bit in terms of reproductive health issues for young people over the last few years or so ("Improvements in Sexual and Reproductive Health of Teens and Young Adults Slowing," CDC). I'm sure that has nothing to do with the money the Bush administration pissed away on abstinence-only education...

Rep. Castle, meet your Republican base

2009-07-21T17:33:00.000-07:00

This video, featuring Rep. Mike Castle (R-Del.), is equal parts hilarious and uncomfortable. Though sometimes humorous, I do get a feeling of discomfort watching people with obvious mental health problems embarrass themselves on camera. Some of these people should probably be seeking treatment, rather than roasting Rep. Castle over some nonsensical conspiracy theories.

I also feel some empathy for Castle. Can you imagine running for office, getting elected and holding a town hall meeting only to realize that these lunatics were the people that voted for you? And that you were probably going to need their votes to get re-elected? He did, however, choose his own party, so that empathy is pretty limited.

All in all, though, I do have to say that this was some of the best batshit-crazy wignuttiness I've seen since last year.

Pity Victoria Jackson

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

Victoria Jackson, formerly of Saturday Night Live, posted an absolutely mind-numbing article this week that contains some of the more annoying habits of some wingnut writers (Feeling brave?: "Down is Up, Unfair is Fair and Ignorance is Bliss, Big Hollywood).

For starters we have some hyperbole and some heavy-duty black-and-white thinking:

You see, evil doesn’t just show up. It disguises itself as something nice; so you’ll let it in. It tricks you.

Murdering babies is called Pro-Choice. Unfair Censorship is called The Fairness Doctrine. Outlandish Taxes and the Death of Freedom is called Cap & Trade. Sounds like Fish & Chips. You gotta figure out the trick.

Seriously? A "Cap & Trade" program will bring about the "Death of Freedom"? While, certainly, the cap and trade program will create some limitations on "freedom" (which laws don't?), I'm sure there are people in other parts of the world (Iran perhaps?) that might beg to differ with Jackson's eulogy for freedom in America. Freedom is not some Boolean concept that is either "true" or "false." Like many things, freedom exists along a spectrum. And, even when considering some of the actions of the Bush administration, I still think that we are still above average compared to the rest of the world on that spectrum.

This is rapidly followed by even more one-dimensional thought:

I’d been wondering why the liberals are so passionate about this Health Care thing. It couldn’t be because they actually care about sick, poor people. If they did, they would visit hospitals, and give ten percent of their gross salaries to Compassion International and World Vision, like us stupid church go-ers do. Biden gave $ 62 to charity last year.

In summary: liberals do not go to church, do not visit hospitals and do not give money to charity. Liberals also mimic every action Joe Biden takes. In fact, I can tell you that right at this moment Joe Biden is scratching his ass. How do I know? Because I'm scratching mine.

Not surprisingly, Jackson barely makes it halfway through her article before throwing out the dreaded Hitler/Nazi comparison. I say dreaded not because anybody particularly fears being compared to Hitler or the Nazis, but because of the embarrassment I feel for someone who stoops to making such silly comparisons.

Now, as a strict adherent to Godwin's law, I should probably have stopped reading the article there and declared Jackson an ignoramus and any points she was attempting to make forfeit. But, being a glutton for punishment, I slogged onward...

And, boy, am I glad I did! For what followed was a fantastically strange, awkward and hilarious passage. After informing a local store owner that she would not be buying anything in her store (because her husband won't let her spend money - talk about limiting freedom!), Jackson goes on a bizarre political rant:

“You know, I’ve been speaking at Tea Parties lately. No one seems to know or care that our country just turned Socialist.”

She stared at me like a deer caught in head lights.

I continued, “I don’t like politics, but we have to do something. I’m writing to my Congressmen and Senators now.”

Her teenage assistants with no customers had frozen smiles and frozen bodies.

“Did you know Obama uses our tax payer dollars to pay for abortions?”

She shook her head no.

“He even supports killing 9 month old babies, in the womb.”

She became a ceramic knick knack.

I continued, “It’s called ‘late-term abortion’. Now he’s going to kill sick people and old people. Did you know that Cap & Trade will allow the government to regulate how long we take a shower? And that the “New Health Plan”, happy, happy, will allow the government to decide who lives and who dies?”

Crickets. Dead crickets.

Of course, in her simple mind, this silence can only be caused by "ignorance" on the part of the owner. Perhaps Jackson should consider that the owner was silently considering calling for mental health services. Or, that she was running through her store's security procedures in her mind. Or, that she was simply dumbstruck by the sheer idiocy and simple-mindedness of Jackson's rant.

Whatever the case, after reading this article, I'm definitely feeling the store owner's pain. I might say that Jackson should probably drop writing and just stick to acting, except for the fact that I've seen her acting. Perhaps a better solution would be for her to become a regular letter writer to the Spokesman-Review. She certainly has the rhetoric down.

Offshore drilling watch

2009-07-06T10:20:00.000-07:00

Doorbelling is great and all, but I'm still waiting for Kevin Parker to push for more offshore drilling and drilling in the ANWR.

Fear of a "conservative" district

2009-06-26T22:00:00.000-07:00

There was an interesting article in the Inlander this week about the Spokane City Council race in District 3 (Story: "The rule of 3rds," The Inlander). The article explores the Northwest district's conservative reputation and how that reputation is shaping the council race.

Of course, I had a few issues with some statements in the article. First off, the statement by local GOP spokesman Curt Fackler that District 3 residents are more concerned with development, growth and "widening Francis and Indian Trail" is ridiculous. I'm here to say that I don't think many residents of the Garland neighborhood, the Shadle neighborhood or the West Central neighborhood give a flying fuck about widening Indian Trail road. I tend to believe that people are far more concerned about the local economy, health care and public education (along with bus benches and Michael Jackson) than they are about the speed of the local commute.

Secondly, while the Northwest district is probably more conservative than the South Hill district as Fackler contends, it is a far cry from being dark red. In fact, according to precinct results, Barack Obama won the district with 52.8 percent of the vote in 2008, clearly showing that a progressive candidate can win here.

That result, in my mind, makes the later statements by state Democratic Party vice chair Sharon Smith completely baffling. Smith told the Inlander that the local Democrats are unlikely to support John Waite, the top progressive candidate in the race.

Waite, who is the owner of Merlyn's (which is worth a +20 bonus to nerd cred), is an independent candidate who describes himself as socially liberal and fiscally conservative (though conservative/progressive might better describe his fiscal views in my opinion). Perusing through his web site it is apparent that his main focus as a candidate veers toward the fiscal side of things. He comes out strongly in favor of creating a more progressive tax system (one of my favorite issues), balancing the budget (a Democratic principal - See Reagan, Bush I and Bush II), strong local government and increased government transparency and accessibility.

So, without an "official" Democratic candidate in the non-partisan race, why not support Waite? Why not try to ride the momentum of last year's election and attempt to take out the ultraconservative Nancy McLaughlin in District 3? Well, Smith explains:

“You’d think she [McLaughlin] would have been a big target, and I think there were quite a few people who had some enthusiasm to see her gone,” Smith says. But local Democrats, she continues, won’t support candidates who are “half-hearted and will maybe kinda do OK.”

So, what exactly will "local Democrats" support? Certainly not important things like the Sustainability Action Plan (Though, according to my inbox, they do strongly support barbecues and picnics).

So rather than going after Nancy McLaughlin who, in Smith's words, is "narrow-minded and backwards-thinking," the Democrats elected to not put forth a candidate of their own and are unlikely to support the best shot progressives have in this race.

/facepalm

Listen up, local Democrats: This is the opportunity to ride the wave from 2008 and turn the tide in District 3. The district should not be conceded to the Republicans, especially for petty political reasons. In the immortal words of Captain Jean-Luc Picard, "The line must be drawn here! This far! No farther!" Please do not condemn the residents of District 3 to four more years of Nancy McLaughlin and her lunacy.

Status report

2009-06-23T10:49:00.000-07:00

Sorry for the lack of updates recently. I returned from vacation to find my computer is apparently on strike. Blog and Twitter updates will continue to be spotty at best for the next week or two.

Where is our district 3 progressive candidate?

2009-05-28T21:44:00.000-07:00

Next week is "filing week," meaning that anybody who wants to run for one of the local offices up for grabs in 2009 has to declare their candidacy by the end of the business day next Friday, June 5 (Story: "Mark you calendar: filing week is coming," Spin Control).

Some candidates have already filed papers with the Washington State Public Disclosure Commission and have started to raise funds for their campaigns. For the Spokane City Council, District 3 race, incumbent Nancy McLaughlin has already reported raising almost $9,000. This includes $1,000 from local tin-foil hat brigade member and GOP committee chair Cindy Zapotocky and $1,500 from the Monroe Court Ltd. Partnership.

McLaughlin, a fan of "global cooling" and United Nations conspiracies, was interviewed by the Inlander last week ("The Skeptic," The Inlander), and continued to make a fool of herself. Despite the headline, McLaughlin is anything but a "skeptic." With her regurgitated, nonsensical anti-science talking points a more appropriate title might have been "The Fanatic" or "The Credulous Councilwoman."

On the heels of her "arguments" against the Sustainability Action Plan, this interview probably has quite a few people ready to see McLaughlin ousted in November. Unfortunately, as of today, the only person running against McLaughlin is "women- and children's advocate and the former campaign chairwoman for Sheriff Ozzie Knezovich" Karen Kearney (Story: "Election time ... let's see who's filed ..., Eye On Olympia).

While the advocate part sounds good, there seems to be much more to Kearney than meets the eye. Mr. Google tells me that Kearney was listed as a supporter of both Joe Shogan for Council President and Mark Richard for County Commissioner in 2007. The PDC database also tells me she donated to our good friend Kevin Parker last year.

But what is really concerning are some letters to the editor that Kearney submitted in opposition to marriage equality in 2001 ("Majority back Bush's marriage position," Spokesman.com) and in support of an anti-gay speaker she helped bring to the Gonzaga campus in 2005 ("Dr. Diggs well-qualified," Spokesman.com). The Dr. John Diggs issue is especially egregious, given some of his past statements about homosexuality, which include his belief that homosexuality is a choice and that gay sex should be discouraged as a public health issue.

So, for the moment, district 3 is trapped in a damned-if-you-do, damned-if-you-don't situation. Where-oh-where is the progressive candidate? With McLaughlin's recent antics, this is a golden opportunity to reclaim this council seat in the name of common sense. Somebody needs to throw their hat in the ring. Now.

Terrorist recidivism

2009-05-27T17:44:00.000-07:00

The "debate" currently taking place in Washington with regard to closing the prison at Guantanamo Bay makes me chuckle. Just today, the Spokesman carried a wire story repeating the information about the recidivism rate for individuals released from Guantanamo (Story: "Some detainees return to terrorism, Pentagon says," Spokesman.com). According to the Pentagon, five percent of individuals released from Guantanamo are "terrorism suspects" and another nine percent are "believed to be involved in terrorist activity."

So, we take these people from their home countries, ship them halfway around the world, interrogate and torture them, deny them contact with their families and deny them an opportunity to prove their innocence ... and they're supposed to be reformed somehow? They're supposed to go back to living their lives as though nothing happened? To me, we're fortunate that only 14 percent (allegedly) start supporting terrorism after being released.

Now, that number may very well be inflated (based on the lack of specifics around it and the reliance on "unverified but plausible information from a single source" you have to wonder...), but it is still better than the recidivism rate of the prisons in the United States. According to the most recent study (I could find) from the Bureau of Justice Statistics, 67.5 percent of the 272,111 prisoners released from prisons in 15 states in 1994 were rearrested within three years.

So what bearing, exactly, does this information from the Pentagon have on the Guantanamo debate? It would seem to me to have none, except to fan the flames of fear that allowed this mess to happen in the first place.** The hope, I would imagine, is that those flames will allow the current policy to stand and Guantanamo to remain open.

The Pentagon, however, is not debating the issue honestly. The issue at hand is not "If we release them, will they re-offend?" If that was a valid reason to keep somebody locked up, then we would do well to stop releasing our domestic prisoners when their sentences are up.

The issues, rather, are fairness and America's reputation. Those American prisoners that we lock up have some rights, including an opportunity to defend themselves. The prisoners at Guantanamo are locked up based solely on the word of one of the most corrupt administrations in American history. They never had a trial of any sort. Naturally, their current detainment is viewed skeptically by much of the rest of the world.

Nobody is saying that we should simply release Abu Zubaydah in the middle of Kansas with $75 and a bus ticket. What I think many people in America and elsewhere in the world want to see, though, is justice. Put all of the prisoners on trial. If they are guilty, punish them accordingly. If they are not guilty, return them to their home countries. And in either circumstance, close the Guantanamo Bay detention center. The time has come to get over our fears and own up to the mistakes of the past.

** ~ The fear machine, in fact, has been alive and kicking throughout this so-called debate on what to do with Guantanamo. My favorite part so far has been watching the politicians line up to say how they won't allow the detainees to be imprisoned in their states as though we were talking about housing Dr. Doom or Magneto at Geiger Correctional Facility. These "terror suspects" are human beings, no more capable of causing damage on their own than any other lunatic running around America right now (assuming they were ever able to escape from one of our Supermax prisons).

There was an excellent letter on this point posted on Talking Points Memo the other day ("Even the Dutch talking smack now," Talking Points Memo) comparing this circumstance with the war criminals imprisoned at the world court in The Hague.

The silent majority

2009-05-12T22:26:00.000-07:00

As The Spovangelist wondered in her excellent post on last night's Council Meeting: Where, oh where, where were the Democrats?

For over a month now, Republican John Ahern and local Republican Central Committee chair Cindy Zapotocky have been making complete asses of themselves in trying to paint the Sustainability Action Plan as this nefarious United Nations plot to make us shower less and build bike lanes. Zapotocky has been issuing memos and encouraging her base to contact council members to voice their opposition to the plan.

And, for pretty much this entire time, the local Democrats have been silent. What that silence cost them, in my opinion, was the opportunity to kick the Republican while they are down. This was a golden opportunity to tie the Republicans to the extremist views that have alienated them from most independent voters.

Here we have the Republicans saying that a) global warming is a myth and b) the United Nations is trying to unduly influence local politics. Both of these positions are laughable and the Democrats missed the opportunity to get in on the joke.

They also missed the opportunity to rake "Republican" council member Nancy McLaughlin over the coals on this issue and soften her up for November. She was reading from the same, ahem, script as Ahern and Zapotocky and should have been called out on it.

Let's not forget that the City of Spokane definitely leans leftward. It's certainly not the bastion of liberalism that Seattle is, but the lean is apparent. That means that in this city, the Democrats have the upper hand. So why the hell don't they use it? Why didn't they issue press releases ridiculing the Republicans? Why didn't they ask Democrats to contact the City Council?

I think we all know the answer to that question. It appears that the local Democrats, much like their counterparts in Olympia and Washington are suffering from the debilitating political impairment: spinelessness. It's the spinelessness that says we can't vote to end an unpopular war or we'll be cast as weak and lose our majority. It's the spinelessness that says that, even though we have a supermajority in Olympia, we can't pass any legislation that is too progressive, lest we lose our majority. It's the spinelessness that says that we don't want to support the Sustainability Action Plan, lest we be cast as "treehuggers" or "green Nazis."

The politics of pragmatism will only take you so far. It may keep an extra seat or two safe for you and it may earn you a few extra votes, but what it will cost you is your identity. And that will kill you in the long run.

For crying out loud, the issues around the Sustainability Action Plan are directly addressed in the local party platform:

We believe that our environment and our energy supply are the most important issues of our times. The economy is certainly of critical immediate concern, but we view the environment as a generational issue.

For the sake of our children, we must address the crisis of global warming and become responsible stewards of our environment.

"The most important issues of our times"??? Ha! The Democrats' non-existent response to the Sustainability Action Plan debate would suggest otherwise.

The Sustainability Inaction Plan

2009-05-12T14:01:00.000-07:00

Let me just start by saying that last night’s City Council meeting was a joke. I really don’t know how someone like Richard Rush manages to sit through that maddening bullshit week after week, playing Kif Kroker to the rest of the council’s Zapp Brannigan. The guy is going to have to be institutionalized after a few more years of this.

Yes, the Sustainability Action Plan did pass but not simply and not intact (Story: "Sustainability plan gets cool acceptance," Spokesman.com). The Plan was amended by council member Mike Allen to state that the council was merely “accepting” the plan and not adopting it and there also seemed to be some other language with regard to analyzing the economic impact of each point prior to any adoption in the future.

Anyhow, watching that bullshit last night put me in a bad mood today. So, let me take it out on a few select individuals involved with last night’s exercise in stupidity.

First off, we have Bob Apple. Mr. Apple’s inclusion on the council is obviously a testament to our city’s open-mindedness. For someone with such an obvious cognitive impairment to actually be elected to the city council speaks volumes. Mr. Apple also spoke volumes; unfortunately, most observers had no fucking idea what he was talking about. All that was clear was that he just “couldn’t” support the plan.

Then we had the person offering the amendment, Mike Allen. I understand that Mr. Allen is going to get the word “centrist” tattooed on his forehead and begin attending future city council meetings painted half blue and half red. Just to show how “centrist” and “pragmatic” he really is. He’s a “fiscal conservative,” you know? He is. Just ask him and he’ll tell you over and over and over again. It seems Mr. Allen’s re-election campaign began in earnest last night.

The Tinfoil Hat Brigade, lead by John Ahern and Cindy Zapotocky (sadly Gloria Clark wasn’t available to tell us about how bad French people smell) reiterated their past comments on the plan. Ahern continued his focus on the economic cost of the plan (wouldn’t want anyone to think he was a nut!) and Zapotocky continued her focus on her own GOP talking points, which included laughable comments about global warming that Ms. Zapotocky obviously picked up during her time at Google University.

And last, but not least, Nancy McLaughlin was just embarrassing and uncomfortable to watch. Watching her read off her list of “scientists” who are climate change “skeptics” and her talk about “global cooling” was simply painful. You remember those presentations in 7th grade, where people got up in front of the class and basically read what they had copied out of the encyclopedia the night before and obviously had no idea what the fuck they were talking about? That was McLaughlin last night. Nancy McLaughlin actually made Bob Apple sound intelligent and coherent.

Now, there actually is a silver lining to last night’s celebration of ignorance: Both Allen and McLaughlin are up for reelection this year (Apple isn’t up again until 2011). So, we have the opportunity to cut some dead weight from the council. Hopefully we will see some quality candidates step up and challenge these two.

Perhaps with some more intellectually-inclined council members, plans such as the Sustainability Action Plan might get an honest look and council meetings might better resemble the "marketplace of ideas" model as opposed to the "marketplace of posturing and pseudoscience" model we suffered through last night.

I'll have a bit more to say on this mess a little later...

Teen Aid's faucet is about to be shut off

2009-05-07T20:09:00.000-07:00

President Obama's 2010 budget was released this morning and -- joy of joys -- it calls for the elimination of Community-Based Abstinence Education (CBAE) funding (Story: "The End of Abstinence-Only," Swampland/TIME). The hucksters at Teen-Aid, Inc. have been receiving grants from the CBAE pot for years now to support their scientifically-inaccurate and narrow-minded agenda (they've received about $6 million dollars since 2001).

And who says that elections don't matter?

Of course Teen-Aid will still be receiving money for their "Marriage-Friendly Communities" program, so they will not be completely cut off. Yet. (I believe that grant expires after 2010)

And, they will still have an opportunity to apply for more federal dollars for "teen pregnancy prevention programs." Teen-Aid will, however, have to "replicate the elements of one or more teenage pregnancy prevention programs that have been proven through rigorous evaluation to delay sexual activity, increase contraceptive use (without increasing sexual activity), or reduce teenage pregnancy." Yes, they would have to use real evidence-based and scientifically-accurate information to qualify for a grant. I don't know if they can do that. A 20+ year habit is hard to break.

So now is the time to throw Teen-Aid an anvil. Spread the word about their shady past and their bullshit programs.

With any luck, maybe we can finally drive a stake through the heart of this monstrosity and end the embarrassment they bring to Spokane.

God Rocks!

2009-04-27T10:45:00.000-07:00

So some guy in Coeur d'Alene is apparently trying to auction the "Hand of God" that appeared in a rock formation in his back yard (Story: "'Hand of God' rock being sold on eBay," CNN.com).

This formation apparently came to be after rockfall in Paul Grayhek's backyard that he says took place after Lent. Naturally, the falling of rocks in one's backyard into a kind-of-hand-shaped formation can be attributed to one -- and only one -- source (Hint: It has nothing to do with Geology or Physics):

The Coeur d'Alene resident said he faced tough times after losing his job, and believed the rock was a sign.

"I prayed between licking my wounds and looking for a job," he said. "We rarely get rockfalls and this formation is 20 feet from my house. It's definitely a symbol of the hand of God in my life."

That would also make it a giant middle finger from God to the rest of the poor, unemployed schmucks who apparently did not pray as hard as Mr. Grayhek. Heathens.

So what will one lucky eBay bidder win with this auction? How about:

1) The ownership of The Hand of God Rock Wall; disassembly required and shipping not included.

a) Exclusive rights to dismantle the wall and take the Hand for reassembly anywhere in the world or space; shipping not included.
b) The property, not the rock wall, must be restored, buyer is responsible for all damages to property and/or structures.
c) All city, county, state or federal permits, easements and/or fees are the complete responsibility of the buyer

But, wait, there's more!

2) Included in the purchase of the Hand of God rock wall are:
3) The exclusive rights to make a casting of the hand; it is approx 9ft tall x 4ft wide
4) The complete and exclusive rights to take still pictures, images or scans on location by you or proxy and to sell those pictures, images and scans.

But, wait, there's still more!!

5) The complete movie rights to accounts and descriptions of the Hand of God Rock Wall, the historical context and personal story of Paul Grayhek; to shoot on location for extended period(s) within customary and accepted practices of the film industry
6) Literary rights to accounts and descriptions of the Hand of God Rock Wall, the historical context and personal story of Paul Grayhek

So, you get some rocks that are kinda shaped like the hand of an imaginary deity, you get to take pictures of said rocks that you can in turn sell to, um, someone else(?) and you get the exclusive rights to the shockingly sad life story of Paul Grayhek for the low, low eBay price (as of the morning of April 27, 2009) of $1,948.00!!! Let me assure you that is money well spent!

Of course, if the "Hand of God" rock is a little out of your price range, you may be interested in just His thumb, His other thumb or His pinky. All of these magical stone digits are currently far more reasonably priced than the whole hand. What a bargain!

So while you folks bid away, I'm heading out to my backyard to dig through my rocks. I'm sure that I just saw one out there shaped like God's nipple that ought to fetch a pretty penny.

Support the Sustainability Action Plan

2009-04-20T16:58:00.000-07:00

The Spokane City Council will be accepting public comment on the Sustainability Action Plan through this Friday. Local Republicans are pushing hard for the Council to reject the plan, circulating an argument against it and encouraging their followers to let the Council know how they feel about it.

Fortunately, the Spovangelist responded with a thorough and brutal beating of the GOP argument. I encourage you all to go check it out if you haven't done so already.

The Sustainability Action Plan can be reviewed in its entirety here. It is a sound, flexible plan that will set our community on the road to more sustainable practices, including a reduction in greenhouse gases and our dependence on fossil fuels. It is exactly the kind of forward thinking that this city needs and can put us ahead of the curve when it comes to addressing the challenges brought forth by climate change.

So, the call has been sounded for all the progressives in Spokane (and I know there are more than a few of you out there) to contact the Council and express our support for the plan.

Here are the Spokane City Council e-mail addresses:

Council President:
Joe Shogan - jshogan@spokanecity.org

District 1:
Bob Apple - bapple@spokanecity.org
Al French - afrench@spokanecity.org

District 2:
Michael Allen - mallen@spokanecity.org
Richard Rush - rrush@spokanecity.org

District 3:
Steve Corker - scorker@spokanecity.org
Nancy McLaughlin - nmclaughlin@spokanecity.org

Please note that Council Members French, Allen and McLaughlin* are all up for re-election in 2009.

Also, please consider writing your own letter using your own words when contacting the council. While slacktivism is super easy, I don't know how effective it is. Taking the time to write your own letter in your own words lets elected officials know that you will also likely be taking the time to vote in November.

* - Your letters to McLaughlin, unfortunately, are probably falling on deaf ears. Spokane Republican Central Committee chair Cindy Zapotocky, who wrote the aforementioned GOP memo and is a member of John Ahern's tinfoil hat brigade, has already donated $1,000 to McLaughlin's re-election campaign. That's by far the largest donation her campaign has received so far. I'm not saying that that's a conspiracy or anything, but it would be highly unlikely that Zapotocky would throw that kind of money at any candidate that was not her political soulmate. Just another factoid to store in your memory banks for November.

Isn't that what sidewalks are for?

2009-04-14T16:44:00.000-07:00

Following Hank's lead in chronicling vehicles parked in bike lanes, I present this...

As you can see, this person really didn't have a whole lot of other parking options available on this overcrowded residential street.

Programs worth saving

2009-04-12T19:18:00.000-07:00

The budget proposals from the governor, senate and house have been out for a bit now and the requests to "save" any number of programs continue to roll in.

Family planning funding is in jeopardy. As is funding for vaccinations. Basic Health is facing devastating cuts. The GA-U program is in danger of elimination. From public health nurses to higher education to child and family services, the list goes on and on and on...

Yet, each and every one of these programs and their advocates are stuck. They are stuck in the mindset that the only solution to their dilemma is to plead with the government to maintain their funding.

As I've said before, this tactic is not the answer. Rather than focus on the spending side of the state budget, these groups need to work on the revenue side of the budget. Senator Lisa Brown has stuck her own neck out a bit (well, as much as anyone can when they get 70 percent of the vote in their home district) in talking about implementing an income tax on people making $250,000-500,000 per year or more.

The unions, social service agencies, child and family advocates and public health advocates need to stand up in support of Sen. Brown and others in Olympia who are pushing for tax reform. Rather than sending me more emails to hound my representatives about protecting this program or the other, these groups need to be sending me emails educating me about our structural budget deficit, our regressive tax system and encouraging me to hound my representatives to fix this problem. Otherwise, we just wind up stealing from the poor, to give to the poor.

David Goldstein at Horse's Ass has been on top of the issue of tax reform, putting out some kick-ass articles that speak directly to the issue (Here, here and here are some good samples). Check them out.

And, then, hound your representative (and your local advocacy group) about the need to address the revenue side of our state's budget deficit.

You know the tide is really turning

2009-04-12T19:04:00.000-07:00

When sleazy, politicians/preachers like Rick Warren attempt to rewrite their own history of opposition to marriage equality (Story: "Rick Warren lies about his homobigotry on Larry King Live," Pandagon.net).

At his current rate of backpedaling, how long will it be until Warren accepts the new definition for saddlebacking?

Wow! What's going on?

2009-04-07T18:00:00.000-07:00

In the course of one week, two states (Iowa and Vermont) have legalized same-sex marriage (Story: "Vermont Legislature Legalizes Same-Sex Marriage," Washington Post). Washington, D.C. also voted to recognize same-sex marriages performed in other states and it seems like New Hampshire, Maine and New Jersey could be the next to join Iowa, Vermont, Massachusetts and Connecticut as states supporting equal rights for gay couples. Could this be the beginning of a wave of common sense and fairness sweeping across the nation? I certainly hope so.

I know that progress like this makes people like Gary Randall of Faith and Freedom really, really sad. But for those of us who really do believe in things like "freedom," this could be the start of something big. As these marriages take place and people get to see it first hand, conservative arguments -- about the doom and destruction and end of civilization that these unions will bring -- will crumble under the weight of the evidence against them.

I firmly believe that this is one of the biggest civil rights issues of this era and this trend gives me a great deal of optimism for the future. Here's hoping that this trend finds its way to Washington state soon.

The pro-disease media tour marches on

2009-04-07T17:36:00.000-07:00

Anti-vaccine/Pro-disease advocates Jenny McCarthy and Jim Carrey were on that bastion of intellectual discourse, Larry King Live on Friday night spewing their usual nonsense (Why aren't Jenny and Jim ever on Bill Moyers' Journal or a show like that? Perhaps only Larry King has the journalistic courage and integrity to stand up to Big Pharma and their government and academic co-conspirators!)

David Gorski who is one of those "medical professionals" that Jenny and Jim seem to harbor such disdain for provides quite the entertaining and science-based beating of the couple at Science-Based Medicine. It's long, but totally worth it. Check it out: "Welcome back, my friends, to the show that never ends: The Jenny and Jim antivaccine propaganda tour has begun."

More on Teen-Aid and "Building Family Connections"

2009-04-03T17:47:00.000-07:00

Remember, from my previous post, that little note Teen-Aid had made about the "Building Family Connections" curriculum having been reviewed by the Centers for Disease Control for medical and scientific accuracy?

That statement turns out to be complete and utter bullshit. I am shocked! Shocked I say!

I contacted the CDC by e-mail to inquire about that statement by Teen-Aid and here is their reply (emphasis mine):

The Building Family Connections Parent Curriculum was a project developed by the Medical Institute for Sexual Health (MISH) with funding from the CDC's Division of Adolescent and School Health. As part of the development process, the product was reviewed by the funding Division to provide comments to improve the final product. The curriculum did not go through an official CDC clearance process to determine medical and scientific accuracy. Such CDC-funded documents contain the disclaimer, "Its contents are solely the responsibility of the authors and do not necessarily represent the official views of the CDC."

So why does this matter?

For starters, Teen-Aid has been pulling this shit for too damn long. Deception, misleading statements and inaccurate information have been their calling card as they attempt to impress their narrow and oppressive agenda on young people.

The bigger issue, though, is the cost to society. Beyond the $6 million dollars Teen-Aid has received in the past decade from the federal government, we are all paying for the fruits of their labor. We pay through unplanned pregnancies, increasing teen pregnancy and the spread of sexually-transmitted infections. These are prevalent, costly, but preventable, problems -- when people are informed and educated.

This move by Teen-Aid is a blatant attempt to circumvent the Healthy Youth Act, which mandates that if sex education is taught in public schools in Washington state that it must be medically and scientifically accurate. So, if you can't feed the kids your garbage, then why not target the parents? There's no law against that.

This tactic is incredibly dishonest and potentially damaging to our community. Many parents will see the statement that the curriculum is CDC approved and take their word for it. Absolutely nowhere in any of the information about the classes is it apparent that they are being presented by a group that heavily promotes abstinence-only education, is anti-choice and has been called out for providing misleading and inaccurate information in the past.

As with many of these groups, the biggest weapon we have to combat them with is knowledge. Spread the word about this class and Teen-Aid in general. Let others know what they are up to and make it clear to your local school or school district that you want no public money, resources or time going to Teen-Aid. They have gotten a free pass in this community for far too long and it needs to end.

Rhetorical question of the day

2009-04-03T05:53:00.000-07:00

So you mean to tell me that law enforcement officers can actually be fired?

McCarthy addendum

2009-04-03T05:48:00.001-07:00

I forgot to mention with the last post that you can find more information about Jenny McCarthy's crusade against science at Stop Jenny McCarthy.

Similarly, someone else has created a site tracking the number of vaccine preventable illnesses and deaths that have occurred since McCarthy started speaking out against vaccinations. It's called the Jenny McCarthy Body Count.

Autism awareness

2009-04-02T19:42:00.001-07:00

Today is (er, was) World Autism Awareness day. Autism is the most common of the autism spectrum disorders. The National Institutes of Health describes Autism as such:

Autism is characterized by three distinctive behaviors. Autistic children have difficulties with social interaction, display problems with verbal and nonverbal communication, and exhibit repetitive behaviors or narrow, obsessive interests. These behaviors can range in impact from mild to disabling. Autism varies widely in its severity and symptoms and may go unrecognized, especially in mildly affected children or when more debilitating handicaps mask it.

For more, visit: http://www.ninds.nih.gov/disorders/autism/autism.htm

One thing to be especially aware of on this day is the fact that there is absolutely, positively no link between autism and childhood vaccinations. There is a loud movement of people, strongly represented on the Internet, convinced that there is a connection between the two despite mountains of evidence to the contrary.

In recent years, these kooks have been lead by Jenny McCarthy. Yes, that Jenny McCarthy. Amazingly, some people when faced with the mindboggling decision of whether to accept medical advice from an actual doctor or from an allegedly-funny model/actress, actually choose the latter.

The strategy employed by "Dr." Jenny and company of equating vaccinations with autism is completely ignorant and has the potential to cause tremendous harm to our society.

First off, blaming autism on vaccinations detracts from real research examining autism etiology.

Secondly, it discourages parents from vaccinating their children. Just last year in Grant County, Washington, there was a measles outbreak among an unvaccinated cluster of children (pdf report here). Earlier this week the Los Angeles Times reported on a substantial increase in parents choosing to not vaccinate their children (Story: "California schools' risks rise as vaccinations drop," LA Times). According to the story the number of exemptions from vaccinations in California schools had doubled since 1997. To me, that sounds like a ticking time bomb.

Without a doubt, Autism is a very real condition. The fact that there are still so many questions about it must be unimaginably frustrating for those families whose lives are touched by it. Still, that is no excuse to subscribe to pseudoscientific solutions to the problem.

Awareness of autism is incredibly important, but that awareness must have a basis in reality. With time, that awareness will lead to more funding for good research and, hopefully, science will begin to better understand the autism spectrum disorders and find answers for those affected by it.

Will somebody please stop John Ahern from embarrassing himself?

2009-04-01T21:37:00.000-07:00

Apparently former state representative and local caniphile John Ahern was at it again on Monday night, this time at the Spokane City Council meeting. According to The Inlander, Ahern and fellow members of the tinfoil hat brigade expressed their profound concerns that the United Nations was unduly influencing the proposed Sustainability Action Plan (Story: "World Domination," The Inlander). This plan, naturally, is just another small step in the United Nation's nefarious, super-duper secret plot to become the one-world government that will enslave us all and force us to share things and stuff.

But, really, what else could be so wrong with a sustainability plan? Having not yet fully read the plan, I cannot say with any certainty whether or not it requires citizens to greet each other each December by saying "Happy Holidays," nor can I say whether or not the measure addresses teenage infanticide or man-dog love, issues near and dear to Mr. Ahern's, er, heart.

(Perhaps the least surprising note in the article was that Ahern found some support on the council from conservative kook Nancy McLaughlin and Bob Apple, a man who knows no equal in his love of ridiculous pseudopopulist sentiments.)

No matter how you slice it, though, somebody needs to help John Ahern. A friend, a family member, someone ... please help him. Don't let him leave the house, it only leads to him saying and doing embarrassing things. Just give him a dish of hard candy and sit him down for some reruns of Matlock (or, better yet, Lassie!) and protect him from himself.

Real evidence-based practice

2009-04-01T17:42:00.000-07:00

A fascinating study was just released that examined the 1811 Eastlake house in Seattle. 1811 Eastlake is a shelter in Seattle for people who are both homeless and alcoholic. The twist, however, is that they do not require people staying at the shelter to enter into any treatment program or to even abstain from alcohol use while on the premises.

What the study -- published in the Journal of the American Medical Association -- found was that this shelter had saved taxpayers approximately $4 million over the course of a year. (Story: "Study: Seattle home for alcoholics saved taxpayers $4 million," Seattlepi.com) The researchers compared 95 individuals who had stayed at the shelter with 39 who remained on a waiting list to get in. They estimated that those 95 individuals had cost the government over $8 million dollars a year in medical treatment, jail time, emergency services, etc. That is a cost of over $80,000 per year per person.

By providing this counterintuitive approach to this chronic problem, 1811 Eastlake cut that cost in half. Furthermore, residents showed improvement in their alcohol abuse problems over the course of the year.

This article immediately brought to my mind an article posted by Jake at 7,000 a few months back ("Malcolm Gladwell Tackles Social Services Theory"), which discussed a nearly identical situation. These types of solutions to chronic (and expensive) problems like homelessness are not likely to win over the general public, but the evidence strongly suggests that they will save a great deal of money.

Plus, the improvement shown by the residents of 1811 Eastlake provides at least some hope that this type of program may be a first step in creating some lasting change in the lives of these individuals.

So, what's it going to take to get a shelter like this in Spokane???

Has Teen-Aid found science? Yeah, right.

2009-03-31T12:04:00.000-07:00

I came across this billboard the other day:

It seems that my old pals at Teen-Aid are offering some classes to help people be the "best parent" they can be. This, of course, leads me to ask: What -- in Teen-Aid land -- constitutes the "best parent"?

A quick click over to the Teen-Aid site tells me that -- surprise -- it's all about sex education. Funny, it didn't say anything about that on the billboard...

The series of classes they offer is based on the curriculum, "Building Family Connections," that was created by the Medical Institute for Sexual Health. In fact, according to Teen-Aid, this curriculum has been reviewed by the Centers for Disease Control for "medical and scientific accuracy," which would be a stunning change in practice for those hacks.

Now, the Medical Institute for Sexual Health is an interesting organization. On the surface they profess to be about science and research and evidence-based practice for reproductive health, but underneath that glimmering surface is the usual cultural conservative nonsense.

A 2006 article by Amanda Schaffer explores the Medical Institute's efforts to create a sexual education curriculum for medical students (Story: "Chastity, M.D.," Slate). It seems that for this particular program, the Medical Institute received funding and approval from the CDC not through the usual application process, but through an anonymous earmark (I got $20 on Sen. Tom Coburn). So the program, while scientifically dubious, could claim to be CDC-approved.

This seems to follow with the Medical Institutes M.O.: Offer up scientific-sounding rationalizations for your positions, misinterpret or misrepresent legitimate research or create your own ridiculous studies. In the end, they will all support your conservative social positions while providing the illusion of scientific legitimacy.

Take for instance, the Medical Institute's "study" regarding the sexual content of popular media and its supposed impact on youth. The study, naturally, falls into (or exploits) the trap of causation versus correlation. Do kids who are exposed to more "sexual depictions" tend to act out more sexually, or do kids who act out more sexually tend to be attracted to "sexual depicitions"? Furthermore, are all of these "sexual images" in popular culture affecting children, or are children (and society at large) affecting popular culture? This pathetic excuse for a study does nothing to address either of these questions.

Yet, this study -- along with its other endeavors -- does allow the Medical Institute to pretend it possesses some scientific legitimacy. And that "legitimacy" can then be passed along to groups like Teen-Aid. Teen-Aid, in turn, can use that "legitimacy" to continue to market its snake oil.

Any class, event, project or anything else associated with the charlatans at Teen-Aid should be viewed as skeptically as possible.

And the kicker? Guess who is paying for their shitty billboard and class?

You and I. Through an HHS Grant (#90AE0252/01). What a fucking joke.

Oh the hilarity!

2009-03-25T17:07:00.001-07:00

I have discovered that the "Apostles of Comedy," (Christianity's answer to the Original Kings of Comedy, I guess) will be hitting Spokane as part of their "highly anticipated" spring 2009 tour (The press release can be found here).

The "Apostles" it seems are "America's funniest clean comedians," though the press release fails to offer a definition for "clean." So, judging them on their overall cleanliness is difficult. As for the funny part, well....

Oh, tee hee hee, I get it... those stupid, stupid scientists. When will they ever learn? They waste all this time on "research" and "experiments" only to get nowhere! Ha ha ha! If only they simply admitted that an invisible man in the sky created us all, science class would be so much easier. Then we could move on to studying pasta-ante pasta reactions. Ha ha ha! That's gold, Jerry! Gold!

Why do Christians respond to every popular cultural trend by creating their own similar-yet-vastly-inferior "clean" knock-offs: Stryper, GodTube, Christmas, Virgin Births, O'Douls (OK, maybe its not a Christian thing, but same concept). It's almost enough to make one pity them. Almost.

"We're officially, royally fucked"

2009-03-24T15:26:00.000-07:00

Please read "The Big Takeover" by Matt Taibbi of Rolling Stone.

The article seems to be generating some buzz on the intertoobs, and it definitely warrants it. Here is a key excerpt:

People are pissed off about this financial crisis, and about this bailout, but they're not pissed off enough. The reality is that the worldwide economic meltdown and the bailout that followed were together a kind of revolution, a coup d'état. They cemented and formalized a political trend that has been snowballing for decades: the gradual takeover of the government by a small class of connected insiders, who used money to control elections, buy influence and systematically weaken financial regulations.

It is a maddening and enlightening piece of journalism, examining just who is to blame for the economic mess we now find ourselves in. It is the type of thing more mainstream outlets ought to be looking at.

Taibbi is the author of The Great Derangement, which is also a must read, in my humble opinion.

Public trust

2009-03-18T09:23:00.000-07:00

There has been plenty of discussion already on the Shonto Pete-Jay Olsen debacle (Hank has a good post on it and related issues here). I, however, want to throw down my two cents...

For me this is all about public trust. A great many people in Spokane right now do not trust law enforcement, especially after events in recent years, so naturally they reject the outcome of this trial. Some police have put a lot of work into eroding public trust in recent years (Otto Zehm, the Riverfront Park "anarchists," the Monroe Street bridge jumper, etc.) and it will take a lot of work to restore that public trust.

Police behavior around this trial, however, was not very helpful in that regard. You have a police dispatcher offering laughably dubious testimony in defense of another officer. You have officers (and swat team members) visibly celebrating one of their own getting away with an act that was idiotic, if not criminal. And now you have the Chief of Police making entirely unhelpful comments like this:

“It is the citizens who decided this verdict not the police department. Jay Olsen was tried by a jury of his peers and that would be you, the citizens … If the community is unhappy then they need to direct their disappointment at their neighbor,” she wrote in an e-mailed response.

“In the Jay Olsen case, we did our part and brought him to you – the public – to determine justice. We can hold our head high, can you?” Kirkpatrick added.

(Story: "Caller disputes 911 testimony," Spokesman-Review)

When the Chief of Police is throwing out an "us vs. them" type of comment like this, you know we're in trouble.

I understand that the majority of local police are decent people, doing honest work. Still their silence regarding the behavior of these "bad" police is as much a part of a problem as the incidents themselves. Jay Olsen may have been found not guilty in a court of law, but who would say he was anything but guilty in a court of common sense and decency? You have police that are pumping their fists at his acquittal right out in the open, but I wonder where are the police who were shaking their heads?

Furthermore, where are the police appalled by the treatment of Otto Zehm and the subsequent handling of the case?

I'm certain that these officers exist, but their silence is maddening. What if, the next time a police officer does something stupid, instead of instantly falling in line behind the usual defensive posturing, these officers started to stand up and call bullshit? Wouldn't that be great?

The issue of public trust in the Spokane Police Department will continue to be an issue until these other officers decide to step up. In my opinion, those honest, but silent, officers are the ones that truly hold the key to rebuilding the Department's reputation and putting an end to this cold war between the citizens of Spokane and their police department.

A sad day for faith and freedom

2009-03-11T06:03:00.000-07:00

SB 5688 was approved by the state Senate last night. The bill will allow registered domestic partners to enjoy virtually all of the legal rights and benefits afforded to married couples within Washington state. There remain, of course, innumerable federal rights that these partners remain ineligible for. The bill now moves to the state House where it is expected to pass as well. (Story: "Washington senate approves rights for same sex couples," Spokesman-Review).

The Faith and Freedom Foundation (who supported Kevin Parker in the fall), lobbied hard against this bill along with some other "family values" organizations in the state. They specifically target senators in conservative districts or those with upcoming elections, encouraging their followers to pester them. Sen. Chris Marr of the 6th LD was listed as a target of their effort. I am pleased to note, however, that their efforts failed and Sen. Marr (along with Sen. Lisa Brown) voted yes on the bill.

I'm sad to report, however, that this development has really, really hurt the feelings of Gary Randall, president of the Faith and Freedom Foundation. Quoth Mr. Randall on Faith and Freedom's blog:

This is a sad day in Washington State. Standing against economic concerns, religious concerns, tradition and marriage itself, the Washington State Senate passed SB5688 at 9:51PM tonight, thus setting the stage for homosexual marriage in Washington State.

I cannot tell you how profoundly saddened I was, personally, as I watched the proceedings tonight.

My heart is going out to Mr. Randall this morning, who I imagine spent the night weeping silently into his pillow and praying to his imaginary god, hoping to save our state from the smiting that we've most definitely got coming.

I mean, how tragic, two adults in a loving and committed relationship and now the government wants to tell us we have to give them "rights"? You know what's coming next don't you? Homosexual marriage, followed by people marrying their dogs, followed by teaching kindergartners about gay sex, followed by the aforementioned smiting. It's all downhill from here folks. It was nice knowing you.

But seriously, this is a great step forward for real freedom in this state and my hope is that this is yet another step toward true marriage equality in this state and in this nation.

Once more on religion and morality

2009-03-10T10:47:00.000-07:00

Great news! According to a recently released study out of Trinity College in Hartford, Conn., Americans are less religious than ever. The percentage of Americans who identify as Christian dropped from 86 percent in 1990 to 77 percent in 2001 and 76 percent in 2008. (Story: "More Americans say they have no religion," AP)

The percentage of Americans who identify themselves as having "no religion" increased from 8.2 percent in 1990 to 14.2 percent in 2001 to 15 percent in 2008.

So, naturally this shift has lead to the decay of our society. We have watched our moral fabric be ripped to shreds and done nothing about it. Nothing! Without a doubt, this anti-religious trend is to blame for the increase in violent crime we have witnessed in our now amoral society...

(Source: Bureau of Justice Statistics Violent Crime Rate Trends)

Oooh... or maybe not.

As a point of clarification, I obviously don't think that religion, or the lack thereof, has any effect on the above chart. Morality and religion are two entirely separate entities and either one can survive quite well without the other.

Oh those wacky Catholics...

2009-03-10T09:17:00.000-07:00

First you have the Vatican supporting the excommunication of several doctors and the mother of a nine-year-old girl. They were all excommunicated because the doctors performed an abortion on the girl who was pregnant as a result of alleged sexual abuse by her step-father. The doctors said the pregnancy would have very likely killed the girl. (Story: "Vatican backs excommunication of Brazilian MDs over child's abortion," CBC News)

Even more amazingly, the church did not excommunicate the step-father:

[The regional archbishop] did not excommunicate the step-father, saying the crime he is alleged to have committed, although deplorable, was not as bad as ending a fetus's life.

Un-fucking-believable.

But that was not all of the stupidity the church has offered up as of late. In honor of International Women's Day, the Vatican newspaper suggested that the washing machine is the single-most liberating invention ever for women. Even more so than "the contraceptive pill or working outside the home." (Story: "The washing machine 'liberated women'," The Independent).

My favorite part of the article:

The article is entitled, “The washing machine and the emancipation of women: put in the powder, close the lid and relax”, taking its name from the Washy Talky, the Electrolux bilingual-talking washing-machine launched in India seven years ago, which would remind the absent-minded housewife how to use the appliance.

And remember, folks: Without religion, there can be no morality!

Voting reminder

2009-03-10T08:58:00.000-07:00

Remember that today is the last day to mail in or drop off your ballots for the special election.

I encourage you all to vote yes on both of the Spokane School District 81 measures. Education is an incredibly wise investment, especially in difficult economic times like these.

But, if you need a more vindictive reason to vote yes (I know that it can help sometimes), consider this: By voting yes you are really hurting Duane Alton's feelings. I bet he is still "So Tired Of Paying Taxes," you know?

Videos for your Monday

2009-03-09T13:42:00.000-07:00

You may have seen one or both of these videos already, but they are both worth watching again and again.

First up is this gem from the Daily Show, wherein Jon Stewart rips CNBC to shreds:

The Daily Show With Jon StewartM - Th 11p / 10c

CNBC Gives Financial Advice

Daily Show Full Episodes
Important Things With Demetri Martin

Political Humor
Joke of the Day

Why can't the traditional media do this? It's not as though Stewart is presenting only subjective information. Douchebags like Santelli deserve to get ripped apart in this manner and called out based on the facts of the situtation. One of the single most frustrating things for me when it comes to our modern media is its drive to present "both sides" of an issue in an "objective" fashion, even when one of those sides is demonstrably full of shit (see also: global warming, intelligent design, Sarah Palin ... the list is a mile long).

The next one is from Bill Maher's show on Friday night. It's the end of his "New Rules" segment and features him sticking up for the Government. He makes some great points:

"Bill Maher's Ode to Government," Huffington Post (which doesn't allow you to embed its videos, so you've got to click through and watch it there.)

Isn't it interesting that you still hear people griping about the government running things when we are in the midst of a financial crisis brought on by private businesses and individuals that may well have been prevented or mitigated with more government intervention? You never hear people complain, "Well, that's just private enterprise for you..."

Dipshit S-R letter writer of the day

2009-02-28T17:48:00.000-08:00

I really, really don't know why it is that I ever read the letters to the editor section of the Spokesman-Review. It just winds up either pissing me off or making me utterly depressed. In either case, the end result is that I just wind up drinking (more). Ugh.

Anyhow, today's letters section was full of the usual nonsense about liberals, etc., but one letter really caught my eye. Mr. Frank R. Schoonover felt compelled to share his concerns about the underground, communist conspiracy that is Envision Spokane:

Regarding Envision Spokane: What are these people drinking or inhaling? Do they even live in the same world as the rest of us?

What a bunch of Marxist/communist/socialist tripe! These proposals wouldn’t even fly in Portland or Seattle, let alone Moscow, Havana or Venezuela. Do they have any idea what their inane ideas would cost?

If they are so proud of this diatribe, why aren’t the names of anybody supporting this published? With the exception of three officers and a project director, no other involved individuals are brave enough (or foolish enough) to put their names on the organization’s Web site.

The editorial board is absolutely right when they say that “the genius of America is that it provides opportunities – not guarantees.” Please use your bully pulpit to expose this nefarious group, its goals and those who support it. Spokane is not now, and never will be, ready for such nonsense.

("Proposals too far to the left," Spokesman-Review)

Mr. Schoonover, what world, exactly, do you live in? It really doesn't seem to me that Envision Spokane is planning on imposing their ideas on anyone. Their ideas have been (and are currently being) discussed and revised at community meetings. They will then attempt to have the finalized product put up for a public vote.

Yes, sir, that is quite the nefarious plot: Publicly discussing ideas for improving Spokane and having the public vote on it. Villainy, I say!

On a side note, what does Moscow have to do with Havana and/or Venezuela? The cold war ended almost 20 years ago. Well, for most of us that is...

We are saved!

2009-02-28T15:56:00.000-08:00

Once again, our community has been saved from the evils of the pot. Our heroes, "the authorities," have shut down a major marijuana operation in Spokane, arresting 20 people (Story: "20 suspects arrested in marijuana ring," Spokesman-Review - Subscription required).

As punishment for their crimes against all things decent, we will house, feed and provide medical care for these 20 villains for the next 10 years (at least). Alas, it is a small price to pay to ensure that nobody in Spokane is ever able to smoke pot again. Huzzah.

Offshore drilling watch

2009-02-26T06:04:00.000-08:00

Here we are, nearly two months into 2009 and 6th LD Rep. Kevin Parker has yet to introduce a single bill related to offshore drilling or drilling in the ANWR.

Dammit, sir, what about your campaign promises?! Do they mean nothing to you??

The gateway drug

2009-02-24T13:53:00.000-08:00

"You follow drugs, you get drug addicts and drug dealers. But you start to follow the money, and you don't know where the fuck it's gonna take you."

-- Det. Lester Freamon, The Wire

Dr. Science made a comment on an earlier post about marijuana that I felt deserved some more consideration:

Though it's been pointed out before, I think (and I say this as someone who smokes pot) marijuana is a gateway drug in a sense for some people.

Marijuana isn't a gateway to other drugs, but it IS a gateway to drug-dealers. A simple fix for this is to legalize and provide some kind of oversight and possible tax revenue to it's sale and distribution.

This will also drain ALL of the revenue generated by marijuana sales away from criminals and the black market.

That way, when all the children die from S.I.P.S. (sudden infant pot-death syndrome) you can blame it on the liberals. We all know that liberals base their decisions on whatever kills the most babies, right?

The issue of where the drug money is going was enough to have the attorney general of Arizona openly talking about legalization in that state in December (Story: "Arizona Attorney General might consider legalized marijuana," NORML). The Arizona AG noted that much of the money made from the sale of marijuana went directly to Mexican drug cartels who use it for other illegal purposes -- including the current war they are having with the Mexican government.

Now, an assemblyman in California has introduced legislation that would call for marijuana to be legalized, regulated and taxed in that state (Story: "Ammiano wants to make marijuana legal in state," San Francisco Chronicle). A separate board in that state has estimated that California would collect $1.3 billion dollars per year in tax revenue.

$1.3 billion in tax revenue alone? Logically, that represents just a fraction of the black market drug trade going on in California right now. Where have those billions of dollars been going?

The prohibition of marijuana is a complete and utter failure. Marijuana is still routinely used and there is no sign that this is going to change. All this prohibition has accomplished is the gross expenditure of tax dollars and the creation of a thriving black market.

Now imagine if we would actually stop wasting money attempting to enforce an unenforceable law and, in turn, started collecting tax revenue. We would put our modern-day Al Capones out of business and find a nifty source of revenue for our struggling economy.

Getting to the root of the problem

2009-02-24T09:17:00.000-08:00

As a social worker, I strongly support funding for programs that help children and families. These programs tend to pay dividends down the road. It would be a mistake for our state to cut them as a consequence of our current budget mess, knowing full well that we will be paying for it later.

Yet, the lobbying event that took place yesterday in Olympia (Story: "At “Homesick for Spokane” gathering, local childrens’ advocates urge budget cutters to look elsewhere," Eye on Olympia) is a perfect example of my least favorite way to address these potential cuts to services.

I get emails from social service groups saying, "Don't let them cut this vital program..." I get emails from education groups saying, "Don't let them cut our funding..." I get lots of emails from worthy areas all asking that I call my legislator and ask them to spare their program. The reality is, however, that there simply is not enough money to spare all of these programs and services. The way things stand now, something must be cut.

What I never, ever get (though I really ought to) are emails calling for tax increases or, even better, a change in our state's tax structure as a means of helping these programs.

Currently collecting dust somewhere in Olympia is a 2002 report on Washington's tax structure, commissioned by the legislature and chaired by Bill Gates, Sr. (Full document available here).

The report mentions the inequity of the current tax system (something that should be of interest to social workers):

"Washington's tax structure is regressive. The lowest income households pay 15.7 percent of income for total excise and property taxes, while the highest income households pay 4.4 percent of income for the same taxes. Sales tax is the main cause of regressivity."

(Chapter 4)

Also noted is the instability of the current system (which should be of interest to those lobbyists):

"The main finding is that Washington's mix of taxes, primarily its heavy dependence on the retail sales tax, causes revenues to increase on average more than personal income during good economic times and less than personal income in economic downturns. This causes revenue shortfalls in economic downturns, precipitating destabilizing fiscal crises, while in good economic times, excess revenues may result in permanent tax cuts or the adoption of new spending programs. These, in turn, exacerbate the problems in subsequent economic downturns.

[...]

Analysis of the elasticity for Washington shows an overall elasticity of 1.2. This means that tax revenues are considerably more volatile than the economy, that is, tax revenues grow faster than the economy in good economic times and contract more than the economy in poor economic times."

(Chapter 4)

More than most others, social workers and teachers know the value of addressing issue proactively. The value of early intervention is apparent in our practice, so why should we not apply this same value to our lobbying? We should be dealing with the root of the problem here rather than fighting with each other over scraps.

It is painfully apparent that our current tax structure is at the root of this problem. This is the issue social service and education lobbyists should be taking up with Olympia. Let's find a way to stabilize our state budget (and thereby stabilize funding for education and social services) and provide a more progressive tax environment for Washington.

On insecurity

2009-02-15T17:26:00.000-08:00

According to Richard Roesler at Eye on Olympia, a Blaine woman is proposing an initiative that would make it illegal for any public funding or lands to be used for any activity that "denies or attempts to refute the existence of the supreme ruler of the universe." (Post: "Washington state citizens initiative filed to protect “The Supreme Ruler of the Universe"," Eye on Olympia).

Now just how insecure about your religious beliefs do you have to be in order to propose a law that would make it illegal for others to question them?

Ski with me!

2009-02-14T16:00:00.000-08:00

Yesterday, mayor Mary Verner gave her "state of the city" speech (Story: "Verner: Progress will be made despite tough times," Spokesman-Review). She sang the usual tune about streets and potholes and development, but I would like to draw your attention to the conclusion of her speech, which began with a quote from New York City mayor Michael Bloomberg:

"In business, you reward people for taking risks. When it doesn’t work out, you promote them because they were willing to try new things. If people tell me they skied all day and never fell down, I tell them to try a different mountain."

Now I ask you to assist me, ski with me. We certainly will make some falls, but we will get up and try another run at it. We must be resolute in our quest for solutions that will meet Spokane’s needs today and tomorrow, leaving a legacy for our children, our grandchildren, and far beyond.

Tough times require bold action. I am ready to take bold, deliberate steps. I ask you to take them with me.

(Full text of the speech can be found here)

OK, that sounds pretty good. But, wait ... let's fast forward to today's paper:

Three years before the city’s deadline to significantly reduce greenhouse gas emissions, many Spokane leaders say the goal aimed at slowing climate change can’t be achieved.

At least not by 2012.

[...]

To meet the Kyoto goal, Spokane would have to cut emissions by about 14 percent.

"It’s possible, but not probable," Spokane Mayor Mary Verner said.

She and other leaders are focusing instead on other goals...

(Story: "Emissions goal unlikely, leaders say," Spokesman-Review)

What the fuck happened to "Ski with me"? I had my goggles ready and everything and now you tell me the mountain is closed?

The Kyoto Protocol goal (which the city adopted in 2007) is for greenhouse gas emissions to be seven percent lower than the 1990 level by 2012. Verner and "other leaders" are considering adopting the state goal of simply matching 1990 levels by 2020.

This is anything but "bold, deliberate" leadership. A bold leader would reaffirm the city's commitment to reaching the Kyoto goals. Perhaps in 2012 we will have fallen short of that goal; but, as a community, we will be better off having tried than if we just simply lower the bar to save face.

Man, I'm used to politicians pissing all over the lofty ideals they assign to themselves in speeches, but come on ... after less than a day? That's got to be some kind of record. Come on Mayor Verner: Get back on those slopes!

Random thoughts

2009-02-11T17:00:00.000-08:00

In all of this talking, negotiating, grandstanding and blathering about the economy and the economic stimulus proposal, why is nobody mentioning the role of The American People™ in this whole mess? Why do none of the politicians or talking heads ever suggest that we are all going to have to evaluate and be willing to change our lifestyles if we want to improve this situation?

Oh, sad news Teen-Aid: Working their way through the legislature right now are HB1612 and SB5629 which would require "pregnancy prevention programs" to be "scientifically accurate" and "evidence-based." The legislation also scrubs some of the language that directed state agencies to seek out abstinence education funds.

Um, shouldn't all government-funded programs be scientifically accurate and evidence based?

Speaking of scientific accuracy, I was excited this week to stumble across Polite Dissent's House Medical Reviews, a collection of blog posts by a medical doctor about the medical aspects of House. I love House, but this blog -- especially the comment section -- cracks me up. I never really thought about how often they perform surgery without masks and/or eye protection.

Let's end this with one more note related to scientific accuracy. It turns out that Andrew Wakefield, hero to the anti-vaccination crowd, may have faked data in his pathetic 12-person study in 1998 that is constantly cited by antivax nuts as proof of an autism-vaccine connection (Dr. Steven Novella has an excellent analysis of the story here). Of course, this is probably all just a highly-coordinated, character-assassination effort against Mr. Wakefield concocted by a conspiracy of academic elites, the Freemasons, the corporate media and the Men In Black to name a few.

She blinded me with (Christian) science!

2009-02-03T22:00:00.000-08:00

Via The Stranger comes word that a bill has been introduced in Olympia that would provide legal protection for people who treat vulnerable adults with "Christian Science" as opposed to, you know, real science. House Bill 1925 would add the following onto RCW 74.34 (Abuse of vulnerable adults):

A vulnerable adult who is being furnished Christian Science treatment by a duly accredited Christian Science practitioner shall not be considered, for that reason alone, a neglected or abused vulnerable adult for the purposes of this chapter.

The bill is sponsored by Reps. Eileen Cody, Doug Ericksen and Steve Conway (two Democrats, one Republican, all from western Washington). I would love to have an explanation from one of them as to how exactly this does not constitute neglect or abuse of a vulnerable adult (The only exception I can think of is a vulnerable adult who has left a living will asking for this particular type of treatment).

And, why is this nonsense being codified as acceptable while other flim-flam gets the shaft? What makes "a duly accredited Christian Science practitioner" so much better than a medicine man or a witch doctor?

Suppose I was caring for my elderly great aunt and she developed a pretty severe case of pneumonia. How would sending a Christian Science wackaloon up to pray for her be any different than me just simply ignoring her? Neither course of action is going to do her a damn bit of good, but because a small sect of people believe that the first action will be helpful (thanks to God or Jesus or whoever) then it's supposed to be acceptable? Ugh.

The bill has been referred to the Health Care and Wellness committee which, unfortunately, Rep. Cody chairs. Interestingly, our own John Driscoll is the vice chair of that same committee. I will be very interested to see how he plays this, especially given his background in the health care field. I sent him a little note to let him know what I think about it. You should, too.

Teen-Aid Riot, part 2

2009-02-03T11:39:00.000-08:00

LeAnna Benn, Welfare Queen

This is part 2 of my griping about the embarrassment to Spokane that is Teen-Aid, Inc. Part one is here.

As I mentioned last time, Teen-Aid, Inc. is an agency in Spokane, Wash., dedicated to promoting abstinence-only education through scientifically-inaccurate, false and misleading material that they sell to school districts and other organizations. LeAnna Benn her cronies have been peddling their snake oil for the last 27 years to school districts around the country, but in the last decade or so they have found a new mark: the federal government.

From 2001 to 2008, Teen-Aid, Inc. was awarded at least $5,253,824 in federal grants for their abstinence-only education program (Search for yourself here). This, of course, does not include tax dollars that school districts use to purchase Teen-Aid's wares, which aren't exactly cheap.

Now, in the grand scheme of the federal government budget, 5.25 million dollars over eight years isn't that much money*. But that still doesn't give the government the right to essentially flush that money down the toilet.

Several studies have pretty convincingly demonstrated that abstinence-only education is ineffective (Results of one: "Study Casts Doubt on Abstinence-Only Programs," Washington Post). The most recent study ("Premarital Abstinence Pledges Ineffective, Study Finds," Washington Post) found that teens that took virginity pledges were just as likely to engage in premarital sex as peers that had not take the same pledges. Furthermore, they were less likely to use contraceptives (Saddlebacking anyone?).

Fortunately, it appears that there is some hope on the horizon. With Democrats now in control of Congress and the White House, there is some hope that this money will stop being wasted ("Critics push for end to abstinence-only funding," AP).

Naturally, this seems like as good a time as any to help give the cause a little push. Consider spending a little time today writing to Senators Murray and Cantwell, encouraging them to end all federal funding for abstinence-only education. If you feel like beating your head against a brick wall, you can write to Representative McMorris-Rodgers, too.

To kind of put an exclamation point on this whole mess, let's take a moment to hear from Derek Dye the "abstinence clown," an Ohio-based recipient of federal abstinence only funding (who reminds me so much of Petey the Sexual Harassment Panda, that I now have his little ditty stuck in my head).

Ah, now that is some money well spent.

* The 1.5 billion dollars spent on abstinence-only education overall, though, is another matter.

Sometime in the future, look for part 3 where I mock Teen-Aid's attempt at "diversification": Marriage-Friendly Communities

SHOCKER! 23-year-old man smokes pot

2009-02-02T10:17:00.000-08:00

Yes, it's true and the picture is everywhere. A 23-year-old man has been photographed taking a bong hit. He has apologized, but it's probably too late. Soon, his brain will rot and he will take to committing petty crimes to pay for his habit. He will move on to harder, more dangerous drugs and die alone in an alley. He will never amount to anything. Let this be a lesson to you all. Marijuana ruins lives.

Word of the day

2009-01-29T07:47:00.001-08:00

Today's word is: Saddlebacking.

Named in honor of homophobic conman Rick Warren's Saddleback Church, Saddlebacking is defined as such:

[T]he phenomenon of Christian teens engaging in unprotected anal sex in order to preserve their virginities

After attending the Purity Ball, Heather and Bill saddlebacked all night because she’s saving herself for marriage.

This wondrous new term comes from Dan Savage, who previously honored homophobic cretin and former Senator Rick Santorum in a similar fashion.

This seems a bit excessive

2009-01-28T06:06:00.000-08:00

As reported by Richard Roesler at Eye on Olympia, state Senator Rodney Tom of Medina introduced a bill that would add yet another dollar tax to a pack of cigarettes (Story: "Anti-smoking advocates call for a $1-a-pack tax hike on cigarettes").

Now, I am not a smoker and I rather enjoy being able to go to a bar and not have to take a shower immediately when I get home. This, however, just makes me roll my eyes. It seems a lot like kicking someone when their down or, at least, pandering to the Idaho smoke shop lobby.

Smokers are easy targets for politicians. Introducing bills against current boogeymen such as smokers, sex offenders and drunk drivers can make one look good with the soccer moms, but it also distracts from the larger, more important issues such as the economy, climate change and our regressive tax system.

I really don't know that I am totally opposed to this tax on its merits, but I am definitely opposed to wasting any more time on this issue today. If you want more tax money, then you need to get to the heart of the matter and start addressing some of the systemic issues that make our current system so unstable.

From the WTF!!?!? department

2009-01-24T17:08:00.000-08:00

Apparently the City of Spokane has "tightened up" it's graffiti ordinance and will begin ordering business and property owners to clean up graffiti on their property or else face a fine (Story: "City tightens up its graffiti ordinance," KXLY).

Seriously.

So, you can enforce a graffiti ordinance in Spokane but when it comes to enforcing a city statute requiring the removal snow on sidewalks you're just fucking powerless? Are you kidding me?

Of course this bullshit only gets better. The "tightening" of the graffiti ordinance also increased the penalties for vandals. The result? A "juvenile" has been charged with a felony for tagging the Hillyard Center. A felony. (Story: "Boy faces felony graffiti charge," Spokesman-Review - The last story in the local news roundup).

Shit, at the very least those geniuses could have tried the anti-graffiti wall first:

It hits

2009-01-23T16:25:00.000-08:00

Despite all the news, the events, the speeches and everything else, it really hit me for the first time today.

As I was heading home today, I saw a church reader board that read "Pray for our President." Out of habit, I rolled my eyes in disgust for just a brief moment before I suddenly snapped out of it: Hey, they're talking about our President.

You have got to be kidding me

2009-01-17T06:48:00.000-08:00

So, you mean to tell me that all the recycling that I put out in the weeks following the snow storm wound up at the fucking "Waste to Energy" plant? (Story: "Recycling burned because of snowstorms," Spokesman-Review)

According to Solid Waste Director Scott Windsor curbside recycling in Spokane was stopped and recyclables left out by residents were simply thrown into the garbage trucks for a week or two after the snow storm.

Absolutely no notice of the switch was given to residents (Just in case, you know, you wanted to hold off on putting your recycling bin out or something). Even Mayor Mary Verner only found out about it this week.

But for those of you who did leave out recyclables during that time, fear not:

Windsor noted that energy created from the city’s trash incinerator generates electricity.

“It is beneficial use,” Windsor said. “It’s not like it’s going to a landfill.”

Wow, what a huge relief.

It's nice to know that the Solid Waste Department takes recycling so seriously.

Neko Case's new song

2009-01-15T20:00:00.000-08:00

OK, OK, one more Neko Case post...

Neko and her record label, ANTI-, are offering to make a $5 donation to the Best Friends Animal Society for every blog that posts the first song off of her new album, Middle Cyclone (which is available on March 3 and has a kick-ass cover). As far as promotional stunts go, this one doesn't sound half bad. So, I guess I will post just one more Neko Case song. Geez, twist my arm why dontcha...

People Got A Lotta Nerve - Neko Case

I like it. The song is also available as a free MP3 download direct from the ANTI- website: http://www.anti.com/media/download/708

Expanding your mind

2009-01-15T17:53:00.000-08:00

"I know it's hard sometimes for you to tell where you end and where the world begins."
--Built to Spill

I just read this fascinating article in Discover Magazine about this very question: Where do you end and where does the world begin? (Story: "How Google Is Making Us Smarter," Discover Magazine).

The article delves into the idea of the extended mind, which is the idea that our minds are not simply the sum of their neurons. The idea is that our minds actually include our environment; that portions of our environment are, in reality, extensions of our mind in the same way our eyes, ears or fingers are.

An example from the article:

Clark and Chalmers asked their readers to imagine a woman named Inga. Inga hears from a friend that there’s an exhibit at the Museum of Modern Art. She decides to go see it. She thinks for a moment, recalls that the museum is on 53rd Street, and starts walking that way. She accesses her belief that MOMA is on 53rd Street from its storage place in her brain’s memory network. Now imagine a man named Otto, who has Alzheimer’s. His memory is faulty, and so he keeps with him a notebook in which he writes down important details. Like Inga, Otto hears about the museum exhibit. Since he can’t access the address in his brain, he looks it up in his notebook and then heads off in the same direction as Inga.

In the view of Clark and Chalmers, Inga’s brain-based memory and Otto’s notebook are fundamentally the same. Inga’s mind just happens to access information stored away in her brain, while Otto’s mind draws on information stored in his notebook. The notebook, in other words, is part of his extended mind. It doesn’t make any difference that Otto keeps his notebook tucked away much of the time. After all, Inga tucks the memory of MOMA’s address out of her conscious awareness most of the time too. Clark and Chalmers concluded that real people are actually more like Otto than like Inga: We all have minds that extend out into our environments.

The article goes on to cite examples such as poking something with a stick, in which our minds eventually become attuned to the feeling of what the stick is touching as opposed to the feeling of our hands touching the stick.

The article is something of a follow up to an earlier article in The Atlantic asking "Is Google Making Us Stoopid?," which argues that the way we gather and view information on the Internet is changing the way our brains work -- and not for the better.

Both articles, though, cite the example of Socrates, who argued that writing would cause people to stop using their minds and become forgetful. The example of similar criticism leveled against Gutenberg's printing press is also cited.

Without a doubt, these innovations changed the way we think and the way we access information. They are perfect examples of the relationship between mind and environment. The ability to write things down meant our minds were able to operate in a whole new way. Our minds were accessing a new part of the environment, and that part of the environment was in turn impacting the way in which our minds function.

While they came with costs, these innovations have allowed humans to grow, learn and thrive. They have truly expanded our minds.

Hmmmm .. not exactly sure where I was going with this. As is often the case with these sorts of things I just tend to take more interest in pondering the ideas, not necessarily in making a point. Anyone have any thoughts on this?

Because I need a good laugh today

2009-01-14T09:34:00.000-08:00

Quick update

2009-01-14T09:24:00.000-08:00

A quick update on this story: The City Council voted 5-2 on Monday night to put their property tax package on the March 10 ballot alongside two tax proposals for Spokane Public Schools (Story: "City to place tax measure on March ballot," Spokesman-Review).

Voting against it were Richard Rush (favors the plan, but opposed putting it on the ballot with the school requests) and Bob Apple (opposes tax increases in the current economic climate).

Those voting in favor of it gave the usual refrains of it not being able to wait and voters being able to decide what they want to support, etc.

So, I think it is going to be important for informed voters to learn about these proposals and get the word out about them over the next 8 weeks so that everyone can make an informed decision about all three proposals.

You mean there are people who don't drive?

2009-01-13T11:29:00.000-08:00

An article in yesterday's Spokesman tackled the thorny subject of enforcing snow removal on sidewalks (Story: "Other cities not as forgiving toward those who don’t clear sidewalks," Spokesman-Review). The situation for pedestrians in Spokane over the past month has been horrendous. For me, a 10-minute walk to the bus stop turned into a 30-minute amateur ice skating and mountain climbing challenge while there was snow on the ground.

The article talks about other cities where sidewalk clearing is actually enforced; from Madison, Wis., where enforcement is strict, to Bloomington, Minn., where the city actually clears all of the sidewalks using funds from a property tax. The bottom line is that there are a lot of cities out there doing a much better job than Spokane when it comes to snow removal on sidewalks.

There are a couple of points I want to make. First, could the response to this issue from our local government be any weaker?

According to Sheriff Ozzie, he lacks the manpower to ticket everyone who isn't shoveling. This really doesn't make any sense to me. You don't have to ticket everyone. Once you start to ticket people, a lot of people will get a clue and start clearing their sidewalks.

Then you have Mayor Verner basically saying that she is afraid that someone will get shot if they start to enforce the law.

“You can imagine if citizens were frustrated enough to pull arms on snowplow drivers for berms, what would be their reaction if under these circumstances we tried to enforce the code requirement for sidewalk snow removal, especially as it’s come in such huge quantities and it’s become heavier and a lot of it is ice and a lot of it is the result of plowing,” Verner said. “So while we’ve been appealing to our citizens to do everything possible to remove the snow … we recognize that under these circumstances we simply can’t be heavy-handed about the code requirement.”

First off, where are these appeals? I haven't seen or heard anyone at all appealing to Spokanites to clear their walks. Secondly, this argument makes no sense whatsoever. Aren't they worried that someone will get shot over the lack of clear sidewalks? Aren't they worried that someone is going to get hit by a car due to the lack of sidewalks? I guess this is good news for smokers. If you want the health district to stop enforcing the indoor-smoking ban, apparently all you have to do is get "frustrated" and have someone pull a gun on a health inspector. Then the city will be powerless to stop you from smoking at the bar.

And the second point I want to make is that -- in my experience -- the vast majority of this mess does not lay at the feet of residents. The worst sidewalks in town are around businesses and commercial properties. I would guess that probably 90+ percent of the sidewalks in my neighborhood have been shoveled (at least those blocks that have sidewalks -- another story for another time). My suspicion is that those homes that have not been shoveled are either empty or have residents who are elderly or disabled.

The real problem areas, in my mind, are those around businesses and commercial properties. Landlords and commercial property owners are the ones that need to be held accountable. This is especially important, because their properties are typically on arterials, where pedestrians face the most danger.

These property owners can afford to have their parking lots plowed (in some instances the snow is plowed right onto the sidewalks), so I think they can also afford to have their walks plowed. Yet, if the city and county continue to refuse to cite them, what exactly is their incentive to clear their walks? The magical "appeals" don't seem to be doing the trick.

Sadly, I think it is going to probably take some sort of tragedy before our city starts to take this issue seriously.

Fact!

2009-01-13T10:13:00.000-08:00

Although it smells like a parody, this is a real video that these kooks want to air as an advertisement.

Well, from my favorite inside source, here are some other facts about Barack Obama that the video producers did not have enough time to include:

Barack Obama is fluoridating your water! Right now! FACT!
Barack Obama pals around with Bigfoot! FACT!
Forget aliens, one Nevada man was abducted and experimented on by Barack Obama! FACT!
In his spare time, Barack Obama volunteers to vaccinate children! FACT!
Barack Obama possesses telepathic powers which is why he always seems to speak so eloquently. The only way to combat this is to wear a hat made of the only substance known to combat telepathy: Tin Foil!!! FACT!
Through the miracle of modern technology, we have determined that the words "That's one small step for man; One giant leap for mankind" were, in fact, spoken by Barack Obama who happened to be in the studio the day they were faking the moon landing! FACT!
Barack Obama also spent some time living in Latveria, where he studied the mystic arts under the tutelage of Victor Von Doom! FACT!

You know what would be really nice, though, is if these loons had decided that the "Constitution Still Matters" while it was getting pissed on for the last eight years. Hmmmmm ... I wonder why they are so concerned now, but not then....?

"Oh my god, it's a mirage ..."

2009-01-12T10:49:00.000-08:00

So after rejecting Mary Verner's proposed tax increase plan 6 months ago, tonight the City Council is going to consider putting a nearly identical plan on the ballot in March. On that same ballot are two tax proposals for Spokane Public Schools. (Story: "Council weighing tax vote in March," Spokesman-Review)

Not surprisingly, the Spokane Public Schools Superintendent is a little less than enthusiastic about the idea:

“The more issues that you put on the ballot, the more it diverts people’s attention away from any of them individually,” Superintendent Nancy Stowell said in an interview this week. “So anything that diverts attention away from our education program is a concern to us.”

Now if I can be a little bit cynical here, I have to wonder if this is an attempt to sabotage either the school levies or all the tax packages together. I can't imagine voters approving three tax increases in one fell swoop and I have a hard time believing the council can either.

What really pushes me in that direction, however, is the fact that the council member speaking out in favor of this move is Nancy McLaughlin. More often than not, McLaughlin tends to be on the wrong side (or the developers' side) of issues before the council. After being one of five council members to vote against Verner's original proposal last summer (Story: "Verner’s tax request denied," Spokesman-Review) where is McLaughlin's sudden change of heart and sense of urgency coming from?

Even Richard Rush (who tends to be on the right side of most issues) wants to pick a different time to put this issue on the ballot. Rush supported Verner's initial measure last summer and supports the current measure, just not the timing of it.

So why not put it on hold for a couple of months? Put it on the ballot in May. Sure, it might cost a little more to do so, but if nothing else it will afford the public more time to examine the measure and consider it independent of the school levies.

Good-bye P-I

2009-01-11T17:43:00.001-08:00

For those that haven't heard, the Hearst Corporation announced on Friday that they will be putting the Seattle Post-Intelligencer newspaper up for sale (Story: "For sale: The P-I," Seattle Post-Intelligencer). If a buyer is not found (which is likely to be the case), the P-I will either become an online-only publication or simply cease operations in 60 days.

This is a terrible bit of news for the newspaper staff who will likely be out of a job soon. As an undergrad, I worked as a clerk in the sports department at the Seattle P-I and I still know people there. I kind of figured that Seattle would not be able to sustain two newspapers for much longer, but that doesn't make this pill any easier to swallow.

It is also terrible news for the City of Seattle and the Pacific Northwest in general. Without the P-I, we will be left with one less source of original quality local journalism in these parts.

I've said it before and I will say it again: Print media in this country is certainly on the decline, but we allow it to disappear at our own peril.

Television media cannot come close to replacing the depth of newspapers. (Ah, who am I kidding, local TV news is entertainment, not journalism.) Electronic media has some potential, but I am not aware of any electronic newspaper that has survived without relying heavily on wire stories. And, wire stories are what we want to avoid, as they offer a sterile one-size-fits-all viewpoint at the cost of diversity and depth.

Newspapers themselves certainly bear some responsibility for this decline, especially in their slowness to embrace new media, but that does not diminish their importance to our communities.

While they are not always perfect, print journalists shine a light on our local institutions. The best ones are able to connect the dots and show you how some seemingly distant issue or event affects you directly, right here in Spokane.

Now, certainly, Seattleites have other media options such as the Seattle Times, Seattle Weekly or The Stranger, but a large metropolitan area like that needs as many different voices as possible. I think this is just a tremendous loss for Seattle and I fear that many people won't know what they are missing until it is gone.

An overreaction

2009-01-11T17:37:00.000-08:00

According to this article in today's Spokesman (Story: "Abduction fear cancels birth notices"), a hospital in Alaska has decided to stop posting birth announcements in the local paper over fears of abductions, following the recommendation of the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children.

Score one for the Culture of Fear.*

Much to the credit of the reporter, some opposing information is presented, showing that this move smells a bit like an overreaction.

According to the NCMEC, there were 256 cases of infants being abducted by strangers between 1983 and 2005 for an average of about 10 per year (the article says 12 per year and I have no idea why ... 256 divided by 25 years equals 10.24 ...?). The article states that there have been an average of 4.2 million babies born per year in birthing facilities during that same period.

So, if I may risk a little math, I figure that you have a 0.00024 percent chance (or 1:420,000) of your infant being abducted by a stranger.

Furthermore, the article notes that only FOUR TIMES in the last 25 years has one of these abductions occurred as a result of a birth announcement. Four times.

So, you have a 0.0000038 percent chance (or 1:26,250,000) chance of your infant being abducted by a stranger as a result of said stranger seeing the child's birth announcement.

The risk here is so small that it doesn't really seem worth worrying about.

So, why do we insist upon scaring ourselves to death over stuff like this?

* ~ The Culture of Fear is a book by Barry Glassner that was featured in Michael Moore's film, Bowling for Columbine. It's been a little while since I read it, but I think it does a pretty good job of trying to apply some logic and reason to some of our cultural "boogey men."

Spokane All-Ages alert

2009-01-02T21:02:00.000-08:00

Shootdang at Skywalk Sensation has the scoop on a proposed new ordinance in the city of Spokane that would, effectively, end all-ages shows.

Seattle went through this in years past with the Teen Dance Ordinance which took 17 years to repeal.

Check out the story ("all ages?") for more information on the latest local government silliness.

Teen-Aid Riot, part 1

2008-12-29T16:10:00.000-08:00

I hate iChoice/Life Services. I've made no secret of this. iChoice is a scam. Life Services is a ridiculous organization that brings nothing but shame to Spokane and its social service community.

Still, there is another, far worse blight upon Spokane. One so despicable, so fraudulent that I shudder at the very thought of them. I am, of course, talking about Teen-Aid, Inc.

Teen-Aid was founded in 1981 to promote abstinence-only education. From their "world headquarters" in Spokane, they have spent the last 27 years scamming school districts and the federal government out of millions of dollars in order to promote their ass-backward agenda.

Teen-Aid's biggest racket is the sale of curricula to school districts, teaching abstinence only sex education. Way back in 1994, a newsletter called The Textbook Letter completely ripped apart the Teen-Aid curricula (Read it: "Keep Them Dumb, Keep Them Pregnant"). Writing the lead article for the four-part examination, Textbook League president William J. Bennetta said of Teen-Aid:

I have examined several of Teen-Aid's items, including both Sexuality, Commitment & Family and Me, My World, My Future. All the pieces that I have seen are overtly polemical in both purpose and style, all rely on obvious and outrageous distortions, and some deal in pseudoscience whose falsity will be evident to anyone who has had any respectable education at all.

Ouch. If you have the time, please read all the articles as they are both entertaining and enlightening.

The Textbook League's refutation was followed in 2004 by a report from Representative Henry Waxman (D-Calif.) (Read it: "The Content of Federally Funded Abstinence-Only Education Programs," pdf document). The report found that abstinence only curricula -- including Teen-Aid's -- routinely included scientific errors, false information and gender stereotypes. For example, the curricula included false information about the effectiveness of contraceptives and the effects of abortions. The Waxman report concludes:

Under the Bush Administration, federal support for abstinence-only education has risen dramatically. This report finds that over two-thirds of abstinence-only education programs funded by the largest federal abstinence initiative are using curricula with multiple scientific and medical inaccuracies. These curricula contain misinformation about condoms, abortion, and basic scientific facts. They also blur religion and science and present gender stereotypes as fact.

Naturally, this report got agencies like Teen-Aid up in arms. LeAnna Benn, the "National Director" of Teen-Aid, even wrote a crazed little diatribe attempting to respond to the report. As you might expect it was filled with half-truths, straw men and any other number of fallacies. Though I think it does say a lot about the mental state of Ms. Benn.

Benn even went on Anderson Cooper's show way back in December 2004 in an attempt to defend her program. I could only find a transcript of the interview online. I would kill for a video, but I doubt many people recorded the show that night. Here is my favorite part, though:

[ANDERSON COOPER:] According to this congressional report, your teacher's manual claims that 5 percent to 10 percent of women will never again be pregnant after having a legal abortion. How did you come up with that?

LEEANNA BENN, NATIONAL DIRECTOR, TEEN-AID CURRICULUM: Well, the information came from the obstetrics and gynecology magazine that's printed for obstetrics and gynecologists, and they cite that between 5 and 10 percent of women who become pregnant will only have one pregnancy, and if that pregnancy is aborted, they may not have another one.

COOPER: But basically, you're extrapolating the idea to make it sound as if having the abortion is going to cause them to be sterile.

BENN: That's not -- that's not what we're extrapolating. But that is a possibility. (UNINTELLIGIBLE)...

COOPER: No, but that is what you're extrapolating.

BENN: ... (UNINTELLIGIBLE)...

COOPER: What you're saying is that, if you're saying that 5 to 10 percent of women will never again be pregnant after having a legal abortion, it makes it sound as if the legal abortion is what's going to cause them never to be pregnant again, no?

BENN: Well, there are consequences to legal abortions, just like there are consequences to...

COOPER: (UNINTELLIGIBLE), we're not talking about...

BENN: ... (UNINTELLIGIBLE)...

COOPER: ... whether there are consequences. I'm just saying, doesn't it sound to you as if what you're saying is, I mean, misleading, that what you're saying, you seem to be indicating that it -- by having a legal abortion, 5 to 10 percent of women will never be able -- will be sterile.

BENN: No. Five to 10 percent of women will not have a pregnancy again, is what the -- this says.

COOPER: OK, so you don't think it's misleading at all.

BENN: I do not.

Excuses, excuses. The passage Cooper quotes is obviously an attempt at misleading people, which is one thing that Teen-Aid actually excels at.

So what have we learned here today folks? First off, Teen-Aid, Inc. is a scam. They sell (pricey) materials to school districts that are full of errors, misleading statements and outright falsehoods. Secondly, this pseudo scientific bullshit that they pedal is making Spokane look terrible. Every time Teen-Aid or LeAnna Benn are mentioned in a news article or television interview, our name inevitably gets thrown in the mix. They are an embarrassment to this city.*

Coming up in part two of the series: LeAnna Benn: Welfare Queen!

Followed by part three: Marriage Friendly Communities?! LOL

* ~ On a related note, did you know that way back in 1990, the late state senator Jim West actually put forward a bill that would, among other things, outlaw teen sex? Did you know that this laughable bill was written by the good folks at Teen-Aid? The bill would also have ended the requirement that HIV/AIDS curricula be screened by the department of health for medical accuracy. Surprisingly, it did not pass. Even more surprisingly, it did not end the careers of either West or Benn. Too bad.

EDIT: Title changed to "Teen-Aid Riot" in an attempt to avoid less than savory search queries.

The greatest country ever

2008-12-29T12:32:00.000-08:00

in the history of the entire flipping world ... fails again.

UNITED NATIONS — Alone among major Western nations, the United States has refused to sign a declaration presented Thursday at the United Nations calling for worldwide decriminalization of homosexuality.

[...]

Co-sponsored by France and the Netherlands, the declaration was signed by all 27 European Union members, as well as Japan, Australia, Mexico and three dozen other countries. There was broad opposition from Muslim nations, and the United States refused to sign, indicating that some parts of the declaration raised legal questions that needed further review.

(Story: "United Nations: First Gay Rights Declaration Wins Much Support, United States Opposes It," AP)

Apparently the legal questions needing "further review" centered around states where it is still legal for employers, landlords and businesses (among others) to discriminate on the basis of sexual orientation. I guess signing the declaration might have lead some "activist judges" to conclude that, perhaps, that type of discrimination is not OK. Also requiring "further review" is that pesky little matter of gays in the military ...

I can't help but think that we and future generations are going to look back on this issue during this era and feel nothing but shame.

The myth of clean coal

2008-12-29T11:53:00.000-08:00

Over the course of the last election, we all heard politicians trip over each other to show their support for "clean coal technology." The reality is, however, that there is no such thing as "clean coal." It's a nice sounding idea, but it simply doesn't exist.

Take for instance the recent disaster that saw over 1 billion gallons of coal burning waste spilled in Tennessee (Stories: "TVA says it will clean up massive Tennessee sludge spill," CNN or "Tennesseans With Sludge-Destroyed Property: "Clean Coal Is A Myth"," AP).

We are probably a long way from knowing what the long-term cost of this disaster will be, but it will almost certainly be significant. The impact is already being felt. There are "piles of dead fish" on the banks of the river. There are warnings about the sludge containing mercury and arsenic. Residents are also concerned about the sludge drying and becoming airborne.

As we begin to move away from oil as an energy source, we should be careful of the things we choose to replace it with. Coal is not a clean energy source. In fact, energy produced from burning coal in the United States releases more CO₂ into the air than all of the cars and trucks in America combined. Coal is a major polluter in the county and I don't see that changing any time soon.

But, I guess it only makes sense that when you burn things, it's going to cause some pollution (*wink, wink* *nudge, nudge*).

Disgusting

2008-12-22T14:09:00.000-08:00

This is absolutely revolting:

ROGERS, Ark. – An Arkansas woman has given birth to her 18th child.

Michelle Duggar delivered the baby girl by Caesarean section Thursday at Mercy Medical Center in Rogers. The baby, named Jordyn-Grace Makiya Duggar, weighed 7 pounds, 3 ounces and was 20 inches long.

"The ultimate Christmas gift from God," said Jim Bob Duggar, the father of the 18 children. "She's just absolutely beautiful, like her mom and her sisters."

The Duggars now have 10 sons and eight daughters.

(Story: "Arkansas family welcomes 18th child, a girl", AP)

Michelle Duggar has essentially been pregnant nonstop since Ronald Reagan was in office. Think about that for a minute.

Naturally, religious kookery (more specifically the "Quiverfull" movement) is behind this sickening display of reproductive hyperactivity. That was as much of a given as the family being from Arkansas and the dad being named Jim Bob Duggar.

I've gotta wonder, though, how many kids they'd have if old Jim Bob was the one who had to birth them....

More on Rick Warren

2008-12-22T12:03:00.000-08:00

Here are a couple of my favorite comments about Rick Warren's inclusion in the inauguration by Barack Obama.

Christopher Hitchens:

Is it possible that Obama did not know the ideological background of his latest pastor? The thought seems plausible when one recalls the way in which he tolerated the odious Jeremiah Wright. Or is it possible that he does know the background of racism and superstition and sectarianism but thinks (as with Wright) that it might be politically useful in attracting a certain constituency? Either of these choices is pretty awful to contemplate.

A president may by all means use his office to gain re-election, to shore up his existing base, or to attract a new one. But the day of his inauguration is not one of the days on which he should be doing that. It is an event that belongs principally to the voters and to their descendants, who are called to see that a long tradition of peaceful transition is cheerfully upheld, even in those years when the outcome is disputed. I would myself say that it doesn't need a clerical invocation at all, since, to borrow Lincoln's observation about Gettysburg, it has already been consecrated. But if we must have an officiating priest, let it be some dignified old hypocrite with no factional allegiance and not a tree-shaking huckster and publicity seeker who believes that millions of his fellow citizens are hellbound because they do not meet his own low and vulgar standards.

(Story: "If we must have an officiating priest, surely we can do better than this vulgar huckster", Slate)

Dan Savage:

I guess Obama—who also described himself as "a fierce advocate for equality for gay and lesbian Americans" in his press conference this morning—doesn't think there's anything disagreeable about Warren comparing the relationships of adult gays and lesbians to incest and child rape. But if we're all going to agree to disagree without being all disagreeable and shit, why not invite Sean Hannity to speak at the inauguration? Or one of the anonymous authors of those Obama's-a-secret-Muslim emails? Maybe that crazy "Obama's-a-scawy-Ayrab" lady from McCain's town hall meeting would like to attend the inauguration? Or how about a white supremacist who, while not at all happy about our first black president, happens to agree with Obama about the importance of early childhood education?

Or are only gays and lesbians required to tolerate people who refuse to tolerate us?

(From: "What? No Speaking Slot for Sean Hannity? Or the Guy Who Named His Kid "Adolph Hitler"?", Slog)

Who the fuck is Rick Warren?

2008-12-18T14:50:00.000-08:00

Seriously, who the fuck is Rick Warren? I understand that he is going to deliver the invocation at Barack Obama's inauguration (Story: "Obama defends choice of pastor for invocation", AP) But that just brings a couple of questions to my mind:

Question One: Why? Why is this guy being treated as someone of import? I mean, sure, he does have a bunch of deluded followers, but so does Marilyn Manson and nobody is inviting him to the inauguration. The bottom line is that Rick Warren is as much of a bigot as Jerry Falwell or Pat Robertson. There are a million possible links to help support his point, but among the highlights are his equating gay marriage with incest, polygamy and statutory rape and offering his support for assassinating foreign leaders.

It was disgusting enough when Obama and McCain took part in his little forum during the Presidential campaign, further legitimizing this charlatan, but inviting him to the inauguration? Is this really the kind of face we want out there as a representative of America? Shouldn't we be pushing this nut out onto the fringes of society where he belongs?

And, Question Two: Why the fuck is there an invocation at the inauguration? Wouldn't it be nice if everyone could just pray to their little deities or whatever at home and get it out of their systems before the inauguration? That way we could keep religion out of the damn thing and maintain that whole separation of church and state concept...

Who ya gonna call...?

2008-12-16T00:14:00.000-08:00

From The Huffington Post:

A burglar who broke into a house claims he was held captive by a "supernatural figure" for three days without food and water, officials said.

The man told police that every time he tried to escape, a "supernatural figure" shoved him to the ground.

Hmmmm ... anyone think that maybe -- just maybe -- said burglar was tweaking when he broke into the house?

OK, OK, I'm sure it was probably just God or Jesus saving Christmas for this random family (miraculously ignoring the inumerable other crimes occuring at the same time...).

Fred Phelps enters the fray

2008-12-13T18:50:00.000-08:00

As Hank has already noted fringe-lunatic-amongst-fringe-lunatics Fred Phelps has decided that he wants a piece of the holiday display bonanza going on in Olympia. His Westboro Baptist Church group wants to erect a display proclaiming, "Santa Claus Will Take You to Hell."

I say post it. Once you swing open the gates and let one religious viewpoint in, you have to let them all in -- No matter how nutty it may seem. As long as a display does not harm person or property, it's all fair game.

This whole circus is really a shining example of just why we should value the separation of church and state. The government has to present either all religious viewpoints or none. They can't pick and choose and they can't play favorites. Isn't it just easier, cleaner and cheaper when they play it neutral and present no viewpoints at all?

Speaking of hilarious reading

2008-12-10T21:23:00.001-08:00

I was recently handed a copy of a humorous newspaper called the Idaho Observer. Wow, this is some of the best humor writing I have ever seen. It's kind of like a northwest version of The Onion.

The top story in the version I have is about Obama's election and the questions about his birth status. They set it up by saying that the Supreme Court had given him until December 1 to produce a birth certificate, leading to my favorite quote:

It is predicted that Obama will not comply with the Supreme Court order because proof he is a natural-born American does not exist.

Ha ha ha ha ha. Classic.

There is also another story about Obama forming his Cabinet that mentions his selection of Rahm Emanuel as his Chief of Staff. The line in that story ... well, it still makes me laugh a full day later:

Emanuel's ties to Chicago organized crime, the Clintons, Israeli terrorists, Wall Street and the subprime mortgage scandals indicate that the "change" Obama promises is Doublespeak for "status quo."

Who comes up with this stuff? They should be writing for the Daily Show or Colbert or something.

Anyhow, the newspaper even includes some parody ads and stories for lunatics like 9/11 truthers and anti-fluoridation zealots. Classic, classic stuff...

Oh, wait, you mean they aren't joking about this stuff? They're serious? ... Really? ... Seriously? No way, man, you have to be kidding............. Wow. Wow. Wow.

And they charge $2 for this????

The Bible is hilarious

2008-12-10T21:14:00.001-08:00

Stolen without shame from Daily Kos, I present these a new set of laws that would be enacted if we truly stuck with the biblical definition of marriage:

A. Marriage in the United States shall consist of a union between one man and one or more women. (Gen 29:17-28; II Sam 3:2-5)

B. Marriage shall not impede a man's right to take concubines in addition to his wife or wives. (II Sam 5:13; I Kings 11:3; II Chron 11:21)

C. A marriage shall be considered valid only if the wife is a virgin. If the wife is not a virgin, she shall be executed. (Deut 22:13-21)

D. Marriage of a believer and a non-believer shall be forbidden. (Gen 24:3; Num 25:1-9; Ezra 9:12; Neh 10:30)

E. Since marriage is for life, neither this Constitution nor the constitution of any State, nor any state or federal law, shall be construed to permit divorce. (Deut 22:19; Mark 10:9)

F. If a married man dies without children, his brother shall marry the widow. If he refuses to marry his brother's widow or deliberately does not give her children, he shall pay a fine of one shoe and be otherwise punished in a manner to be determined by law. (Gen 38:6-10; Deut 25:5-10)

G. In lieu of marriage, if there are no acceptable men in your town, it is required that you get your dad drunk and have sex with him (even if he had previously offered you up as a sex toy to men young and old), tag-teaming with any sisters you may have. Of course, this rule applies only if you are female. (Gen 19:31-36)

The bible is chock-full of even more nonsense like this, too. I know that it is the "inerrant" word of yahweh and all, but can you imagine trying to honestly live your life based on such contradictory, outdated and illogical book?

Saving the government some money

2008-12-09T23:27:00.000-08:00

According the the Wall Street Journal (Story: "Abortion foes open a new front"), pro-life organizations, lead by the ~~Family~~ Patriarchy Research Council are going after government funding for Planned Parenthood.

Abortion opponents are pressing state and local governments to stop sending taxpayer dollars to Planned Parenthood, arguing that the nonprofit group has plenty of cash and shouldn't be granted scarce public funds at a time of economic crisis.

Planned Parenthood receives about $335 million a year -- a third of its budget -- from government grants and contracts to subsidize contraception, sex education and non-abortion-related health care for poor women and teenagers.

Wow, it is so nice of them to think about how these scarce public funds are being spent. I mean, why should we waste tax money on silly things like contraception and sex education? I think that money would be far better spent on things like medical care and food assistance for the kids born to people unable to otherwise afford or access birth control. Oh, and don't forget about the increase in demand for abortions that would likely coincide with the increase in unplanned pregnancies. We can spend the money on that, too.

And, while we are on the topic of wasting scarce public funds, let's talk again about Life Services Spokane and Teen-Aid, Inc. Do we really need to waste any tax dollars on either of these despicable organizations? I don't believe that Life Services receives much in the way of government funding, but any funding they receive is undoubtedly better spent elsewhere.

However, Teen-Aid, purveyors of anti-scientific abstinence-only bullshit and those annoying "Marriage is Good For You" billboards, receive a lot of money from the Federal Government (perhaps upwards of $1 million per year). I am planning on writing more on my disdain for Teen-Aid at a later date, but in the meantime, someone ought to let Senators Maria Cantwell and Patty Murray know about the money being wasted on a program that does not work.

Wow, I'm feeling good about this. Let's save the government some more money. Where do we cut next?

Finally, a reason to shop at Buckle!

2008-12-09T20:54:00.000-08:00

So, I don't really enjoy going to the mall. It's noisy, crowded, hot and generally annoying. But every now and then I will suck it up and go.

When I do go, however, I tend to avoid shitty places like Buckle. I have never had any interest at all in shopping at Buckle until I saw this sign today:

Yes, by shopping at Buckle you can win a trip to see Nickleback!

ZOMG!!! ur spiderman song wuz tite! nickelbak rulz!

But, seriously, my interest quickly diminished when I discovered that the trip was to see Nickleback in concert and was not to witness their public execution. But what if that's my wish? It says "Wish and Win"!

Nickleback and Buckle. Together. That is one heavy, heavy concentration of douchebaggery for such a small point on the globe.

iChoice vs. Research

2008-12-05T19:38:00.000-08:00

Some of you may recall that I don't really like iChoice. Whether you want to refer to them as iChoice, Life Services or the Crisis Pregnancy Center, they are still one of the most unethical, dishonest and useless social service agencies in Spokane.

They are an agency bent on pushing their anti-abortion agenda on people by any means necessary. They misrepresent their services, prey on vulnerable populations and dispense medical information that is, quite often, nothing short of complete and utter bullshit (For the facts on iChoice, read my previous post on the topic).

One scam that they push quite a bit is their Path of Life Program. This is advertised as a support group (it's really a bible study) for people who are suffering from the scary-sounding condition known as "Post-Abortion Syndrome." They describe this syndrome as being "a type of Post Traumatic Stress Disorder."

Unfortunately for Life Services, there is no such thing as "Post Abortion Syndrome." Without a doubt, women who have abortions can experience depression afterwards. But, so can those who carry a pregnancy to full term. It's called postpartum depression and research has found no significant difference in the rates of depression amongst women in either circumstance.

A study looking at the research on the topic was just released by Johns Hopkins University, further strengthening the notion that "Post Abortion Syndrome" is simply a partisan invention:

A team at Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore reviewed 21 studies involving more than 150,000 women and found the high-quality studies showed no significant differences in long-term mental health between women who choose to abort a pregnancy and others.

"The best research does not support the existence of a 'post-abortion syndrome' similar to post-traumatic stress disorder," Dr. Robert Blum, who led the study published in the journal Contraception, said in a statement.

(Story: "Abortion not seen linked with depression," MSNBC)

Now, I certainly don't expect Life Services to acknowledge this new information. Conservative Christian organizations tend to avoid inconvenient obstacles like research and facts. I would guess, however, that they would strongly object to the research and spew some nonsense about academic conspiracies or something like that. Whatever.

The bottom line is that iChoice/Life Services/Crisis Pregnancy Center is a scam. Don't be fooled by their "Free Pregnancy Test" signs or their clever little "iChoice" branding. They have nothing to do with "choice" and quite a lot to do with "bullshit."

The war rages on...

2008-12-05T16:52:00.000-08:00

Well, the inevitable occurred and someone took it upon themselves to personally remove the atheist display at the state Capitol today (Eye on Olympia has some extensive and entertaining coverage). The sign was apparently later found in a ditch and is now on its way back to the Capitol.

Remember folks: There is no morality without religion. Funny, though, that nobody has touched the nativity scene...

*****
In related news, the Governor's office is apparently receiving a bunch of requests for additional displays to be included at the Capitol. Amongst these requests, one comes from my new hero, Jim Buenzli of Olympia, who wants to display the tradition aluminum pole of Festivus! Can you imagine the Airing of Grievances that would take place in Olympia? Yikes.

The Spokane Blog Bible

2008-12-04T19:20:00.000-08:00

Recently, The Spovangelist brought 14 local bloggers together to produce the first ever Spokane Blog Bible. This blog is one of 12 featured in the booklet. The other blogs are:

Down To Earth
Spokanarama
The Spovangelist
Cycling Spokane
7,000
Shallow Cogitations
Out There Monthly
Blush Response
The Inland Echo
Get Out North Idaho
Skywalk Sensations

The Blog Bible release party will be this Saturday night at the Magic Lantern Theater from 5:30-8 p.m. The Bibles will be available for purchase at local retailers in the coming weeks. Here are some pictures of it:

Each blog is featured on a page with it's own commandment and a description of the blog itself. It is an amazingly slick little book. Proceeds from the sale of the book will go toward funding future community-building projects like this one. So, you can support local arts and entertainment and get a fun little book in the process!

This project has introduced me to many of the blogs produced in and about Spokane. The blogs featured here are just the tip of the iceberg in terms of local blogs. So, if you have a moment take some time to explore the blogs above and some of the others in the Spokane community. There are a lot of thoughts, opinions, ideas and events out there beyond what you will find from any one media source.

Connecting the dots

2008-12-04T18:07:00.000-08:00

First, read this story ("Kid Refuge") from The Inlander. It's an interesting story about a program at Bemiss Elementary to identify children who are struggling at school due to childhood trauma (i.e., child abuse, neglect, domestic violence, parental substance abuse). The trauma (past or present) impacts their grades, social interactions and classroom behaviors. These are challenging kids to work with.

Now, read this story ("Children's programs reduced in Washington, Idaho") from the Spokesman-Review. Budget cuts in Washington and Idaho are already adversely affecting two key programs. First, in north Idaho, the Public Health Nurse Home Visiting program is being cut. Second, in Spokane, 27 workers were laid off from the Division of Child and Family Services (aka, Child Protective Services).

Both of the programs that were cut are meant to address the issue of trauma at an early age. The Public Health Nurse program is a program that is meant to provide support to new or inexperienced parents or parents who are considered "high risk" due to issues such as substance abuse or past CPS involvement.

The role of CPS in this is self-explanatory. They investigate reports of child abuse or neglect and take appropriate action up to and including the removal of children. They provide services (i.e., parent education, counseling) to families to help improve the home environment for kids with the goal of keeping families together.

Both of these programs are, in general, working on the issue of childhood trauma on the front end. They are trying to prevent it from taking place and addressing it as much as possible when it does.

The program at Bemiss Elementary is working at the back end of the issue. They are trying to help kids who have experienced trauma in the past. Every day they are experiencing first-hand the consequences of the trauma that these kids experienced in their first five years of life (and probably are still experiencing). That trauma has significant and long-lasting effects, all the way into adulthood.

So how in the hell does it make any sense to cut these vital front end services, when we know damn well that we, as a society, are going to be paying for it down the road?

We pay for it in special education. We pay for it in mental health services. We pay for it in law enforcement and incarceration. We pay for it in health care. We pay for it in countless other arenas.

Without a doubt, the state budget is fucked. There are going to have to be some serious budget cuts no matter how you slice it. But we need to be very careful when it comes to cutting prevention-based programs, especially those for young kids. The money we save by cutting things such as CPS, early-intervention programs, preschool programs and K-12 education will undoubtedly pale in comparison to the money it will cost us down the road.

(As an aside: Can we please have a state income tax now, so we don't have to deal with this budget roller coaster so often?)

Updates

2008-12-04T17:17:00.000-08:00

Update #1: It's official, John Driscoll has won the race against John Ahern for the 6th district, position two, legislative seat (Story: "Driscoll wins recount," Spokesman-Review). The recount showed a gain of only two votes for Ahern, so Driscoll won by a mere 72 votes. A very close race, but definitely a welcome victory after Don Barlow's loss in the other 6th district race.

And the countdown to the Republican whining begins. I will have a special good-bye to Mr. Ahern here in the coming days. Stay tuned.

Update #2: You may have heard that Bill O'Reilly is peeved about the atheist display at the state Capitol. On his show, old Billo called out Chris Gregoire for allowing the display and encouraged his viewers to call her office to complain. Billo's delusional "War on Christmas" watch continues.

Anyhow, the Gregoire and Republican Attorney General Rob McKenna issued a joint statement, well, stating the obvious: If they allow one religion to put up a display, they have to allow all religious viewpoints to do so as well. You know, the First Amendment and all.... (Story: "Display stays, Gregoire, McKenna say," Spin Control 2.0)