ars gratia artis

Tulips, Seattle, Washington

photograph by Evan Robinson

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Two Buses Dangle Through Guardrail in Downtown Seattle

Two buses, which had 80 students combined, dangle 20-to-30 feet above I-5 after sliding down
snow and ice covered E. Thomas St. and crashing through the Melrose Ave. E. guardrail.
December 19, 2008. photo Dan DeDelong/SeattlePI.

Eighty Students Dangle Over I-5 Downtown Seattle Guardrail
Huge Winter Storm Sends TWO Buses SCREAMING Over Edge

Friday, two chartered Job Corp buses, between then packed with 80 student/workers just minutes away from their destination in Seattle for the holidays, went screaming down a snowy ice covered hill.

One bus bounced off another, and both went through the guardrail and dangled 20 to 30 feet over the busy downtown I-5 freeway.

SeattlePI

Packed with students ready for the holidays, two chartered buses headed downtown Friday on Seattle's icy, snowy streets.

Drivers had taken the buses -- weighing tens of thousands of pounds -- down East Thomas Street because it is part of a loop used by buses exiting northbound Interstate 5 onto Olive Way. They can't turn left where Olive crosses Denny Way.

Suddenly, "I was watching the cars drive below us," said Jesse Till, a 20-year-old passenger who was on the phone with his mother at the time.

The two Northwestern Trailways buses slid down the snow-covered cobblestones of East Thomas on Capitol Hill and smashed into each other, careening through a guardrail on Melrose Avenue East, 20 to 30 feet above Interstate 5.

Till's one thought: "I'm going to die."

Seattle police were investigating the accident Friday, but a report could take months to complete, department spokeswoman Renee Witt said.

Neither driver received a citation at the scene, she said, and "drivers were not aware of the icy conditions on East Thomas."

Passenger Rico Collins, 16, said the buses exited I-5 at Olive Way, taking a route westbound down East Thomas. The first bus hit the railing and the second apparently turned at the last moment striking it on the side instead of the rear.

"It almost pushed the first bus off," said Jessica Gilbertson, a 19-year-old from Burien who was on the second bus.

Students pulled emergency window latches and jumped out windows.

"I was just sitting in the back of the bus, and I didn't think anything like this would happen," said Collins, who was on the second bus.

Judi Milburn said she saw the accident as she was walking down Thomas.

Had the second bus not turned, it would have hit the first bus square-on from the rear and knocked it over the barrier, Milburn said.

Note that all of the eye witnesses are given equal authority, with the ones on the bus with the most dramatic quotes being quoted first. "If it bleeds, it leads."

Sure, we all want to get readers. I gave y'all some great headlines. Everyone wants readership. Still, the 19 year old who says "it almost pushed the first bus off" conflicts with Judi Milburn at the end of the piece (whom isn't technically quoted) who says it was the driver of the second bus whom (paraphrasing) saved everyone by turning and NOT hitting the first bus square-on; turning into the side of the bus. That driving head-on into the end of bus one would have resulted in a sudden stop with the wheels pointed in the direction of travel...transferring all of the second bus' energy into the first bus and knocking it ka-BOOM over and down onto Interstate-5.

I suspect Judi is right, and that the driver of bus two did an amazing job under tough circumstances, first reflexively (muscle memory/training memory) knowing what to do, and then (again, muscle memory/training memory) managing to get that huge bus to do the right thing while it was sliding down the hill, the adrenaline pumping, kids screaming. With seconds available at best, he/she GOT IT RIGHT.

Bus two's driver SHOULD be promoted; and will be lucky to keep driving. *smiles sadly*

We won't know the accident results for months; we'll never know if we can trust them. The results will be trustworthy only if the accident investigation crew doesn't turn political and stays relentlessly competent. I give it 30% odds. We're dealing with snow, which isn't something Seattle investigates frequently, thus doesn't really know what they're doing; kids, which freaks everyone out; and it's Seattle, which throbs with political influence, although admittedly not like Chicago, LA, Boston, San Francisco or New York City.

Here in the Pacific Northwest we manage to do okay with our corruption, evil and meanness (see the recent case of would-be Congresswoman Darcy Burner who was taken down because she got seriously involved in a fight which cost the publisher of the Seattle Times tens of millions of dollars directly, and kept him from making the Seattle Times a monopoly, which would have been worth hundreds of millions in money, plus much more in influence.) In spite of all this, as Frank Blethen and the woman-hating Dave Reichert's hit-job on Darcy Burner showed, for a town that rains seven months a year and exists wired to the gills on coffee in spite of our massive seasonal depression, Seattle is pretty fucking evil and corrupt.

Thus my concern about the forthcoming investigation.

Here is at least some of what I'd like to know...

Why didn't someone in the City of Seattle have that route blocked off? It isn't as if it's some huge mystery what route buses heading in to the bus terminal routinely take. And the bus terminal should have scouted the route and had the route blocked as well. Both the City and Greyhound were asleep at the switch.

I can't say for sure the first driver shouldn't have gone down the hill. I wasn't there so I don't know. The second driver for sure has less culpability than the first, as she/he was in train. Not to mention managing to keep enough control/steering to save the lives of the people in the first bus through not knocking them onto the Interstate.

Everyone else needs to answer questions.

Accidents happen. It's why they're called accidents.

Oh... directly below the accident location, on the OPPOSITE side of the Interstate, the night before (Thursday night) about 5:20 pm, I got off the Interstate into downtown Seattle.

Moments before I'd been heading south on I-5 at 40-50 mph in heavy snow and ice, moderate traffic. It was rush hour, but only moderate traffic 'cause of the roads being all snowy with ice underneath. Not to mention ALMOST NO ONE out here knows how to drive in the freaking snow. *shudders*

Suddenly ka-BAM and my car, with a SEMI and other cars all as far away from me as I can possibly get them, my car starts to go a bit wonky. Of course there's snow and ice everywhere, so what the hell, it could be I've hit a really bad patch. And there's a lot of noise. Not to take chances, I move over to the right and exit as I just told you, directly across from where the following day the two buses almost crash onto the Interstate.

Turns out someone lost a snowchain and it wrapped around my back left tire at 40-50 and DESTROYED my tire, as in, ripped the mother-fucker to shreds. Holes through the sidewall all the way around every 2-3 inches, ka-wham, ka-wham, ka-wham, ka-WHAM. Like someone took a two inch drill (with a severe wobble and sandpaper attached to the edges) and intentionally FUCKED with my tire. Plus my wheel isn't looking that great by this time, either.

I'm a gimp, so it isn't as if I can change the tire myself. I have trouble lifting more than about 10-15 pounds, let along pumping up a jack. I drove the flatted tire, by now on the wheel which isn't sparking as there's snow and ice on the street, looking for a service station. This being a major downtown, there isn't one. Finally I found a Firestone tire store. It being 5:40 pm, they were closed with not even someone doing the books, late. I drove on.

Eventually I found a self-service gas station and called a tow truck. What with a massive winter storm in progress, there wasn't any problem at all getting someone to me immediately. < / sarcasm > It only took 90 minutes and I considered myself lucky. The towing company charged me $100.00 to change my flat.

Does anyone know if they ripped me off, or is that normal? (I thought I had AAA. Turns out my card is expired. Bleah.)

The wheel itself was destroyed, so he threw the whole thing in the dumpster. Today (friday) when I bought a new tire and wheel, total cost was $181.xx, including installation. That was for a cheap tire. And I only had to wait 2 hours. But my full-sized spare is back in my trunk. I always have a full-sized spare. That little dinky spare is for people who don't drive through Arizona and California and up the side of Mt. Rainer. Mt. Baker. Mt. Lawson. Live, active volcanoes. Or out in the middle of real deserts or over mountain ranges where you actually DO pack a full kit and check your vehicle EVERY time before starting out, no kidding. I was trained young. I was trained well. I'm still alive and not everyone whom I grew up with even made it to 20. Some didn't make it till 15.

The winter storm is passed.

Late Saturday - early Sunday we're expecting a new winter storm...

GALE FORCE WINDS GUSTING TO 90 MPH. Six inches to two to three feet of snow. Trees down including major trees. EXTENDED power outages of one to two days in many areas, three days or more in others. That's at sea level. This according to local papers, radio, television.

Welcome to the Pacific Northwest. Joy.

Here's a quick video of the bus wreck.

And how's the weather in your world?

Kyle and I stocked up on canned foods. We're ready to sit out at home.

*smiles*

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Interesting Articles

Browsing...

I found these articles interesting.

Not enough to give them their own article. At least not on a holiday weekend when I'm all about resting and reading. And folks are mostly taking it easy. But enough to post them up together.

Enjoy.


Bothell High School, Seattle
Sued over Nude Cheerleader Photos

This is total sexist bullshit. Welcome to the Seattle School District.

Two cheerleaders took nude (topless in one case) photos of themselves, one for her boyfriend, one just goofing around with another cheerleader. As tends to happen -- and here at GNB we have warned y'all about before -- the photos got out...

The football team enjoyed them.

Therefore, naturally, the girls were suspended from cheerleading. One for 30 days, one for a year. The PI story didn't say, but I'd assume the topless photo only got 30 days. Nudity is worth an entire year, I'm guessing.

The football players? A stern talking to, then back to the gridiron.

The girls are suing the hell out of the Seattle School District. Can you say Equal Protection Violation?

Can you spell S-E-X-I-S-T P-I-G-S-? Oink, oink.

SeattlePI

King argues the district's student handbook didn't specifically prohibit the girls' behavior, and didn't outline potential consequences for a case like this.

"My clients fully realize what they did was stupid," King said, adding that the girls never intended for the photos to be distributed and have been mortified by the entire incident.

He wants the disciplinary action expunged from the girls' school records, the remaining teen reinstated to the cheerleading squad and some form of apology from district officials for neglecting to discipline other students in the case.

Northshore officials, however, believe the girls clearly violated the district's athletic code, which students must agree to in order to participate in school activities. The girls understood that as athletes, they would be held to higher standards of behavior, Stoltzfus said.

"When you sign up to be a cheerleader -- or for any student activity -- you agree to certain codes of behavior," she said. "We consider them student leaders, and we want them to be role models."

Teen Sex = Sex Offender = Eviction =
Georgia Remains a Totally STUPID State

Two kids had sex ten years ago.

The girl was 17. The boy was three weeks shy of 16.

In its infinite wisdom the great State of Georgia -- motto: even stupider than Mississippi -- convicted her of sodomy which ended her up on the registered sex offender's list for life.

People on said list can't live within 1,000 feet of a school, daycare, school bus stop, and so on. Even if they own a home or are renting, if a school bus changes its route, if a new school or a church gets put in, they are hosed. For life.

Because of a teenage blowjob when they were less than two years apart.

If you gave/received head to/from someone while you/they were under 16 years old (yes, that means you or they were 15 or younger), raise your hand. Feel free to tell us the entire story including ages, and how totally bogus Georgia's bullshit law is. Do remember however there are Statute of Limitations regarding Age of Consent laws. We're not lawyers; don't ask us.


Federal Way, Washington Teen Returns Ten Large.

A 17 year old grocery bagger, Moisei Baraniuc, a Ukrainian immigrant, found $10,000 in unmarked cash in the bathroom of the grocery store where he works. The young man and his parents came to the United States five years ago with $300.00. The kid works for minimum wage.

The boy turned the money in.

The cash belonged to a -- seriously -- Mr. Smith. It was his life savings. He was moving, so instead of hiding it at his home, he had it on him. Mr. Smith satisfied the police it was his and they returned his money to him.

Tacoma News Tribune

“Besides being really, really shocked, I had an overwhelming sense of pride for Moses for doing the right thing,” said Schafer, the store’s guest services manager.

“You always hope that people would do the right thing,” she said. “He didn’t even think twice.”

Federal Way police are also praising Baraniuc.

“That was great,” said Cmdr. Stan McCall. “I think that’s very honest and shows a great deal of integrity.”

Baraniuc works 15 hours a week after school to pay for gas and other expenses. He earns minimum wage.

Baraniuc said he and his family came to the United States five years ago with $300.

He teaches 10-year-olds in Sunday school at First Ukrainian Baptist Church in the Federal Way area. That’s another reason he knew he had to return the money.

“I can’t be teaching little kids not to do it if I’m doing it,” he said.

Baraniuc's promised a reward, but says he's fine: “Right now I have everything I need.”

Lots of people might mock this. I think it's just great.

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Election Night Seattle & Bellevue Recap

GNB has two very talented film makers.

Writer/Director Lower Manhattanite shoots and cuts film in New York City. LM put up a post and stills from NYC of Election Night, “The Happening”.

Cinematographer Christopher Bell shot and cut all GNB's Puget Sound Election Night footage including, Obama Wins Presidential Election, Seattle Celebrates & Rejoices.

We shot an interview with David Goldstein of HorsesAss, the primary State blog for Washington. Last week, I realized we hadn't aired the David's interview, so I asked Chris if he'd put it together along with some other footage, both stuff you've seen before and stuff you haven't, to give us one last look at Election Night from Seattle & Bellevue.

As a sidebar, I've been sitting in on the Podcasting Liberally sessions lately, with David Goldstein here in Seattle. The last three weeks before the election (Oct 14, 21, & 28 respectively) we did podcasts with Greg Nickels, Mayor of Seattle, Matt Stoller of OpenLeft, and also with Matt Stoller of Open Left, and Laura McClintock of the McClintock Group (an initiative specialist.)

If you need to rent a professional camera package, glass, hire a cinematographer, or rent the RED ONE camera (which Chris and I rent out jointly and will be trading in for the new EPIC camera next year, plus probably a SCARLET just for grins), please contact Chris. He does amazing work and I recommend him highly.

The cameras from RED DIGITAL CINEMAS are changing everything. No kidding.

Anyway, enjoy the footage. We had a blast producing it for you.

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Why Darcy Burner Lost the Washington 8th Congressional District

Darcy Burner. 2008. Location/photographer unknown.

My heart is breaking.

Darcy has given everything she is and has to win.

We lost in the last ten days because Corporate Media manipuated the voters. Period. Full Stop.

• Darcy was ahead by FOUR POINTS, 50-46.
• The Republican Seattle Times front-paged a vicious outright lie which they KNEW to be false. It wasn't a question of interpretation. It was a totally made up LIE. That...
• Gave Richert a "source" to call Darcy a "LIAR" which combined with
• Unlimited illegal loans from Media One, the media buyer for all Washington State Republican politics, gave Reichert the cash for a 14-day full-out Smear Campaign on Darcy, which
• Cost Darcy the election.

It was a HIT JOB.

Corporate Media opposed Darcy Burner's politics. So they LIED on the Front Page of the Seattle Times.

Not an Editorial. News. They lied in the NEWS.

The early mail ballots came in strongly for Darcy; they were from before the smears. But the poll ballots and the late mail which came in AFTER the smear, hurt her. They hurt her just enough.

It's over.

The Responsible Plan she founded helped us win other seats around the country.

Darcy is an amazing woman who always astonishes. Smart, capable, you should watch her work a room. You should watch her THINK. Putting all the pieces together, taking seemingly unrelated pieces from multiple discourses and disciplines, weaving them together on the fly, flawlessly in front of an audience. She not only has the media skills, she knows what she's doing. Her solutions make sense at a deep, strategic level as well as being politically sensible.

Darcy Burner is where the heart of America lives. She was defeated by lies told by scared rich white men, erratic and afraid for their obsolete rich white-men's privilege, and deathly afraid of powerful women.

I wish all of you had gotten the chance to watch Darcy work, and to see her team in action. You can tell an enormous amount about a person by the people they pick. Darcy picks wonderful people, then turns them loose to do their job.

There's no blame here. It was a smart, capable campaign, in a tough district. The further south you go, the more people question Democrats.

Yet in spite of everything, until the Seattle Times lied to the voters during balloting, Darcy was winning. And even with lies trumped up in the middle of voting, Darcy is down by only 8,000 votes with perhaps 50-60K votes still to count.

Darcy Burner and her team are and were astonishing. I can't say enough about how amazing they were.

They left EVERYTHING out on the field.

*weeping*

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Darcy Burner Loses Washington 8th District

Darcy Burner has been defeated by Congressman Dave Reichert (R-WA).

It's over.

Seattle Times

The Associated Press determined tonight that Reichert's lead for the 8th District seat was insurmountable.

Burner has not conceded and her spokesman, Sandeep Kaushik, said "I think there are still a lot of ballots out there."

Reichert has not declared victory, although his spokeswoman, Amanda Halligan, said "our confidence continues to grow."

Reichert held a sizable lead in Pierce County returns, and was outpolling Burner by a much smaller margin in King County. With almost 80 percent of the expected vote counted from Tuesday's election, Reichert's lead was nearing 8,000 votes this evening. Roughly 270,000 votes have been tallied.

Seattle PI

The Reichert-Burner race was the state's only competitive congressional race. Combined, both candidates raised more than $5.8 million.

The 8th District sprawls through the suburbs and rural communities of eastern King and Pierce counties.

The tide was running against Burner as officials in King and Pierce counties tallied more votes Friday.

Democrat Burner, 37, led in the initial, Election Day count of absentee ballots from King County, where 80 percent of the district's voters live.

Those ballots were mailed a week or more before Election Day, and the Burner campaign felt she was benefiting from the enthusiasm of those supporters of the candidate at the top of the Democratic ticket, Barack Obama, who sent in their ballots early.

But Reichert, 58, pulled ahead as both poll votes and additional absentee ballots were added to the total.

Reichert beat Burner by 3 percentage points, or a little more than 7,000 votes, in 2006; he edged her in King County by 304 votes and ran up most of his margin in Pierce.

Darcy Thanks The Netroots

Update 8:27 pm:

Darcy Burner Concedes 8^th District Race

Bellevue, WA (Nov. 7) – Democratic candidate Darcy Burner issued the following statement in response to the decision by the Associated Press to call Washington State's 8^th Congressional District race:

"It is likely at this point that Congressman Reichert has won re-election, and while we will certainly ensure that every valid vote is counted, we accept the decision of the voters.

"I would like to thank the thousands of people who put so much time and effort into the campaign, as well as the countless thousands more who went beyond voting to actively participate in our democratic process this year. The election of Barack Obama as our new President will ensure that the change to the direction of our country called for in this campaign is realized in the new year."

###

Update 10:30 pm:

Why Darcy Burner Lost the Washington 8th Congressional District

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Darcy Burner Thanks Netroots

Race To Close To Call

Burner has been ahead all night. Earlier this morning, Reichert pulled ahead for the first time with a 376 vote lead out of 136,706 counted (roughly half of the total.)

The race will likely take till sometime Friday to count all the ballots.

• OpenLeft (Matt)
• HorsesAss (Goldy), and
• DailyKos (mcjoan)

All continue to give great coverage of Darcy's race to win the Washington 8th.
Highly recommended.

I think -- think -- we're going to pull this out but at less than the 1% I originally predicted; now I think it will be withing the margin of litigation. If my source is correct, the precincts being reported for Reichert which finally, barely, gave him a few votes over Darcy, came from his largest base precincts, while Darcy's largest base precincts have yet to be reported.

But I'm not certain. This is single-source (not confirmed). Rather than sit on it, I'm passing it to you as single-source and letting you evaluate it along with me. Just keep clearly in your thinking that this is NOT sourced as fact.

Reichert of course is predicting he will win. And he has good historical cause; both of his prior victories match this pattern... slime your opponent in the final ten days, then come from behind after the polls close for the win. In the 2006 race, Reichert came from behind, eventually winning both King County (Seattle) by roughly 300 votes, and Pierce County (Tacoma) by over 7,000.

With only half the total votes currently counted, Darcy needs to increase the margin she's winning by in King County, to make up for how much they don't like her in Pierce County.

This Washington 8th race remains neck and neck.

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Get Out The Vote

All Politics Is Local

Tip O'Neil said that many years ago.

This election, we're seeing an wave of change sweep across the United States at a level which happens roughly every 70-80 years. Yet still, the election is taking place LOCALLY.

Here in Washington State, the fight is different than the fight in New York State, which is different than the fight in California, which is different than Texas or Pennsylvania or Florida or Ohio.

It is GOTV time.

Obama is going to win. We're going to win the Senate in a big way, and run the table in the House.

The question is, HOW BIG WILL BE OUR VICTORY?

All politics is local. It is up to each one of us now through November 4 to

• donate as much money as we can
• call everyone we know
• doorbell for local campaigns, and again,
• donate as much money as we can.

This is the most important election any of us will see in our lifetimes.

I'm not kidding about this. This is the most important election since FDR in 1932, 76 years ago. Another election of this importance won't happen for another full lifetime. All of us voting today with rare exceptions (my three daughters and Sara's daughter, all voting in their first presidential elections) will be passed by the time the next election of this magnitude comes along, say in 2084. (Kyle would be 94.)

It's time to go all in. Whatever you're holding back, throw it on the table.

To the extent we win 10 days from now, we are positioned to set up the next lifetime with a progressive agenda which will determine the future for our grandchildren and great-grandchildren. Every single person we elect matters.

Don't hold anything back.

Get out the vote.

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Donating to Darcy

Three Polls In a Row Show Darcy Ahead of Reichert

Republicans do what Republicans Do...

Reichert LIES about Darcy; Seattle Times Bites on Lie
Local Media BREAKS LAW, Gives Reichert $500,000+ in Illegal TV
Local Radio, Newspaper and TV Help Reichert SLIME Darcy
Also... Sun Rises in East

YOUR MONEY IS NEEDED NOW FOR DARCY TO FIGHT BACK

Twelve days.

Twelve days of slugging it out over the airwaves.

Darcy needs enough money to stop this last minute LIE from Reichert and his big-media big-money backers.

Matt Stoller and here also, mcjoan, and David Goldstein make clear what bullshit these lying liars are slinging.

This is the toughest Congressional race in the country.

Why?

Because Darcy IS the face of the Netroots Caucus. She MAKES SENSE.

Darcy, more than anyone running nationwide, is ONE OF US.

In hard economic times Darcy is a political investment in our future.

I just kicked in another $250 for Darcy. I trust her. I respect her. I know her and the people she trusts.

Darcy Burner is the real deal. Count on it.


Darcy Burner outside her home which has just burned down. July 1, 2008.
photo Ellen M. Banner/The Seattle Times.

If you're going to Donate To Darcy, NOW IS THE TIME.

Her campaign needs the money NOW. Thank you.

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Go Darcy Go!

47%

to 40%

Darcy Burner is up 7% over Reichert.
That is OUTSIDE the Margin of Error.

Yesterday, Darcy was up 5% over Reichert in the DNCC poll, 49%-44%.

The economic wave and Darcy's terrific debates have reached the WA-08.

Finally.

GO DARCY GO!

The following from the Lake Research polling memo (the Burner campaign team pollster. They are fully trustworthy. Just as the DNCC poll yesterday was trustworthy. Pollsters who lie to their clients aren't rehired the following cycle.)

Open Left

Reichert's floor of 52 has been cracked, and he's now in the low 40s. That means that his main asset, his image of a hard charging sheriff is no longer working in the district. Lake is Darcy's pollster, but there are reasons to think this confirmation of yesterday's DCCC poll is on target.

The latest Lake Research Partners survey of likely voters in Washington's 8th District shows Democrat Darcy Burner leading Republican Dave Reichert for the first time in the history of our polling.

• Burner now leads Reichert 47% to 40%. This is the first time she has ever led, signaling that the voters of WA-08 are ready for the kind of change on behalf of middle class families that Burner promises to bring.

• Reichert's re-elect stands at just 36%. The remaining two thirds of the electorate would consider voting for someone else, vote to replace Reichert, or aren't sure.

With enough resources to continue to communicate Burner's strong messages and inform voters about Reichert's ineffectiveness, Burner is on a path to emerge victorious in 20 days.

There's more...

Darcy is on track to win by three to five points. (My assessment.)

Let me give that to you again...

Darcy is on track to win by THREE TO FIVE points. *smiles*

Rock and fracking roll.

Contribute here.

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Darcy Burner: Defending and Protecting the Constitution

“I Will Not Compromise On Upholding The Constitution”
Darcy Burner -- September 20, 2008

This is why I love Darcy.

Joan McCarter writes wonderfully: A Day in the Life of the Darcy Burner Campaign.

Highly recommended.

Contribute here.
I just kicked in $250 USD. Wow, is our country worth it.

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I-1000 — It’s Not About Disabilities

I am a man with disabilities.

Moving HURTS.

My walking stick has been in my family two generations.

Like many people, I have disabilities you can not see. But the being a gimp thing is pretty damn obvious.

Back before I became a crip, I was a paramedic and a flight medic.

I worked as a paramedic for almost ten years. Houston, Little Rock, Tucson & South Tucson, Oakland, and up in the mountains doing rope work. The videos you see on television of medics going down hoists out of helicopters with red crosses on them, into floods, ravines, and mountains? That was me. I flew all over the western United States in both little prop planes and on high-flying Lear Jets. I worked in big-city inner-city neighborhoods — the ghetto — and I flew above it all as a flight medic. Except for the moments when I dropped in and pulled someone out.

All that is behind me now. Even walking hobbling to the bathroom hurts.

Some people, who claim disabled status, are lying about I-1000, the Death With Dignity initiative. They claim it is a trick to put down folks like me, people with long-term chronic injuries or medical issues. They are liars trying to scare people.

Don’t be fooled.

Death With Dignity has NOTHING to do with people with disabilities. That is a vicious, cruel, dishonorable lie.

I’m going to tell you the truth:

If you’re a cripple or a gimp or a wheelie, or just so hurt you don’t know how you can take it some days, I-1000 doesn’t apply to you AT ALL. Nada. Nicht. Non. Not one fracking bit. The ONLY people Death With Dignity applies to are people who are TERMINALLY ill.

If you have a disease which multiple physicians sign off as fatal, that you’re going to DIE and die soon, then and only then can YOU request a dose. That’s it. It is your call, no one else.

None of this has anything to do with people with disabilities. Not a thing. If you have pain, get a good pain doctor. It’s amazing how much pain can be managed with meds these days. I KNOW. I take pain and associated meds every three to four hours around the clock and have for years. Most of the time they work.

Here’s my point. Pain hurts. Disabilities suck. But Death With Dignity isn’t about people with disabilities. Anyone who says otherwise is lying.

Don’t listen to the liars.

Unless what you have is fatal NOW, unless you are dying NOW, Death With Dignity has jack shit to do with you. Because it only applies if you are dying NOW and multiple doctors say so.

In that final moment, I know I want my mother, my children, myself, to be able to be as PRESENT, as AWARE as possible. When death comes — and it is coming, one death to a life, that’s the way it works — I want my eyes to be open so I can watch the transition happen.

Death With Dignity allows this to happen.

The liars would have you believe otherwise. That it has something to do with being a gimp, a cripple, a wheelie, or otherwise a person with a disability. It does not.

Death With Dignity has to do with YOU and the people you love; with being in charge of your life… and your death… when it is time. YOU, and your doctors, and your family, will know when it is time.

Right now it is time, please, to Vote YES on Prop. 1000.

Written for HorsesAss. Cross-posted at Group News Blog.

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Support Darcy Burner

Do you live in the Washington 8th district? Know anybody who does? Help get out the vote for her this Tuesday (19th).

Darcy Burner

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At the Fundraiser

Darcy Burner fundraiser attended by Thomas Goldstein and Lauren Berkowitz
at the home of Maureen Judge on Mercer Island, Washington, July 9, 2008.
photo Jesse Wendel / Group News Blog.

All Politics is Local

A local fundraiser for Darcy Burner went well Wednesday evening.

People dropped in and out all evening, walking, driving, even biking.

The couple you see above -- Thomas is the Executive Director of Washington Bus, an awesomely cool program which goes all over Washington State registering young people to vote. Yes, it has a bus. Lauren is simply cool. -- showed up at Darcy's fundraiser on road bikes. ROAD BIKES.

Thomas was riding Shimano Dura-Ace group (around since 1973) on his road bike, which is nowhere near as cool as my Campagnolo Record group (Campy's been around since 1933). Campy -- When you care enough to send the very best.

Not doing another Coming of Age ride with my kids this year due to the demands of the political season. Still am managing to get out and tool around here and there on my Titanium-Carbon LeMond. I'd say probably 10-15 of the people who showed up for Darcy's fundraiser came on bicycles.

Perhaps 75 people came over the three and a half hours. State and local, as well as a few national bloggers. There were some elected folks and people who both had run for office and (I think) were running for office. I had a nice chat with about social networks, generational changes, poverty and class, with futurist and blogger Rob Salkowitz, the author of Generation Blend: Managing Across the Technology Age Gap.

A good time was had by all.

Darcy and family are doing well. She wasn't there, by the way. Wasn't intended to be. This was to raise funds for her, and it did that well. So far, with General Clark's request from earlier this week, we're at roughly $129K on a goal of $150K, $150,000 being Burner's entire fundraising goal for July.

I heard tonight one other mega-appeal should hit someone's network in the next day or so, and hopefully that will take her over the top. Then anything else raised will be a head-start on August.

Darcy IS planning to attend at least a day or so of Netroots. Last I heard that's still on. All this is complicated by the insane federal campaign laws which don't let people even buy her a meal or a drink, all the normal stuff one would do for someone whose home burned down. So we do what we can which is donate money to Darcy's campaign as an act of humanity -- to buy Darcy time off to put her life in order.

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Darcy Burner's Home Burns Down

Five Year Old Henry Saves Family

Tuesday July 1 at roughly 7 AM, Darcy Burner's home burned down.

The fire started in the room of 5-year-old Henry Burner, in his lamp. Henry rushed out of his room and told his Mom, who got everyone (but the family cat) out safely.

The fire spread quickly. It burned the home to the ground. Darcy, her husband Mike, and little Henry are all fine.

Seattle Times

Her 5-year-old son, Henry, came into her and her husband's bedroom around 7 a.m. screaming there was a fire in his room, Burner said.

"I scooped him up and got him out of the house," she said. Everyone, including the family's golden retriever Bruce Wayne, made it out uninjured, but their cat did not survive.

Burner said she hadn't yet considered whether the fire would impact her campaign.

"I am today focused on my family and just really grateful that my family is OK," she said. "Tomorrow I'll wake up and figure out what comes next."

SkyKING raw video.
News Chopper 7 raw video (No audio).

I spoke last night with Sandeep Kaushik, Burner's spokesman. He was with her most of the day. She, her husband, and little Henry are all doing well. Darcy is taking a few days off from the campaign to spend time with her family, and then will return.

Darcy Burner for Congress

I am also deeply grateful for the expressions of support from friends, supporters and others who have called to express their condolences and offer their generous and heartfelt assistance. I am so moved by all of the offers of a place to stay, or clothes to wear, or all of the other offers of help that have poured in throughout the day. While we are fine for now, your kind expressions of support and concern have helped to sustain me through what has been a long and difficult day.

For those who would like to do something to express their support, let me suggest making a contribution to your local humane society or animal shelter in memory of Charlotte, or to the Washington State Council of Firefighters Benevolent Fund.

Thank you all for being there for us in my family's time of need. It means so much to us.

In the meantime...

Today was going to be day two of GNB's first ever fundraiser. We're going to push that back till tomorrow, and here's why.

Darcy's one of us. She's a geek. Look at the shirt she was wearing when she rushed out of her home when it was on fire...

That's XML for Stop the War. It's what she was wearing around the house at 7 AM.

David Goldstein and Kos both have wonderful posts up, the bottom line of which is this: Darcy needs a few days off. Due to the demands of modern campaigning, the only way she can take time off to be with her family is if we raise funds for her.

I invite each of you to donate to Darcy. Because of federal campaign laws, we can't send Henry new toys or Darcy new clothes. But we can give her time with her family by letting her stay home a few extra days.

Please give generously to Darcy's campaign today. And don't worry. Our scheduled GNB fundraiser will return tomorrow.

Thank you to everyone.

Darcy Burner outside her home which has just burned down.
July 1, 2008. photo Ellen M. Banner/The Seattle Times.

Update: 2:45 PM.

GNB doesn't endorse candidates.

I like Darcy personally, but part of the job of politician's is to be likable.

What we're doing here is the humane thing, the modern equivalent of sending over some blankets, clothes, and plates of food -- which we legally can not do with a federal candidate for office. Well, maybe the plates of food, but that's about it. *sighs*

Anyway, I already chipped in $100 bucks, not because I'm endorsing anyone but because I think it's the right thing to do for someone who's just lost their home and damn near everything they own. Not out of GNB funds -- out of my personal account.

I encourage people to give generously. I know her. She truly is one of our own.

Update: 4:00 PM.


And the dog is saved too...

Markos at DailyKos has set the goal of raising $150,000 to take the burden off Darcy throughout all of July.

As of 3 PM we're at $50K and climbing.

Y'all are THE BEST.

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What Condition Our Condition Is In

They call Economics "the dismal science". If you've ever taken a basic econ class, you'll know why. The assumptions upon which economics are built are known to be faulty (people do not act "rationally" as defined by economists), the conclusions are often depressing, many of the important questions are left unasked, and the ability of economists to agree on how the world works (or an economy works) is extremely limited. These problems notwithstanding, we spend an appalling amount of time thinking about the economy, worrying about the economy, trying to effect the economy, trying to predict the economy, and generally obsessed with the economy.

So let's take a look at a few current "conditions"

Pricing the War

Joseph Stiglitz and Linda Bilmes suggest that the Iraq War is going to cost $3 trillion or even more. You can see the current direct costs of the war for the US, states, towns, or congressional districts at the National Priorities Project.

The Economist weighs in, largely with quotes from others, so I won't quote it. But check out this blog entry by Robert Reich.

According to the St. Petersburg Times, "Barack Obama says the war costs each household about $100 per month." Here's the math:

• Amount requested by the Bush Administration for 2008 War Funding: $196,400,000,000 (that's $196.4 billion)
• Number of households in the US: 126,316,181 (that's 126 million)
• Annual Cost per Household: $196,400,000,000 / 126,316,181 = $1554.83
• Monthly Cost per Household: $1554.83 / 12 = $129.57

That $1550 annual cost is the whole War on Terror, not just the Iraq War. What could you do with $1550 in your household? Of course, it's not evenly distributed. People who pay more taxes bear more of the direct cost.

But we all bear the secondary costs, like current and future interest expense for the money we're borrowing to pursue the war. We also all bear the opportunity cost. According to the National Priorities Project site, taxpayers in the state of Washington (my nearest US neighbor) will spend $1.9 billion for Iraq War funding in FY 2008. That money could have bought:

• health care for 300,000 people
• health care for 767,000 children
• Head Start for 214,000 children
• 35,000 public safety officers
• 30,000 music & art teachers
• 31,000 elementary school teachers
• 317,000 scholarships to university
• 179 elementary schools
• 25,000 port inspectors for shipping containers
• 10,000 affordable housing units

In FY 2009, projected spending for the taxpayers of Washington state will be $3.2 billion (168% of the FY 2008 spending.

According to Zachary Coile of the Chronicle:

In historical perspective, the Iraq conflict is already one of the most expensive conflicts in U.S. history.

The price tag in Iraq now is more than double the cost of the Korean War and a third more expensive than the Vietnam War, which lasted 12 years. Stiglitz and Bilmes calculate that it will be at least 10 times as costly as the 1991 Gulf War and twice the cost of World War I.

Only World War II was more expensive. That four-year war - in which 16 million U.S. troops were deployed on two fronts, fighting against Germany and Japan - cost about $5 trillion in inflation-adjusted dollars.

In early 2003, White House Office of Management and Budget Director Mitch Daniels said a war with Iraq could cost $50 billion to $60 billion. Even Congressional Democrats suggested it would cost only $93 billion (although they specifically excluded peacekeeping costs).

The Economist article linked above is quick to note that "suggestions that the war is responsible for current economic malaise are misguided--to the contrary, given under-utilised capacity, the war is probably helping to keep the economy moving". Their contention is that we're not using our full production capacity because of current problems with the dollar and demand and the credit crunch and so keeping the machines operating by having a war is reducing our economic problems. IF that is correct, and I doubt it is, surely we could do at least as well by spending that money here in the US, perhaps fixing some of the crumbling infrastructure in which Republicans don't believe we should invest money.

Home Foreclosures

California, Nevada, Colorado, and Florida are experiencing foreclosure rates of more than 1 in 150. If you click through to the zoomable map, you can examine your region, or downtown Tampa, or wherever. Some neighborhoods are getting very hard hit. Absolutely great map.

During the peak of the Great Depression (1932-33), foreclosure rates reached roughly 10% (pdf). That's 10% of all mortgages, not 10% of all houses. Our current rate is about 1% of all households. About 1.3 million homes entered foreclosure in 2007, with 1 to 2 million households predicted to face foreclosure in the next 18 months or so. The US home-loan market was about $3 trillion in 2006. About 1 million new single family homes were sold in 2006. The average house sold in 2006 cost $305,000. If all houses were fully financed (not likely), $3 trillion / $300,000 = 10,000,000 houses sold in 2006. If 1.3 million homes entered foreclosure in 2007, that's equal to 13% of the houses sold in 2006. If half of all home purchase costs were financed, then $3 trillion / $150,000 = 20,000,000 houses sold in 2006 and 1.3 million foreclosures represents about 6.5% of the houses sold in 2006. Without better data I can't get more precise, but we appear to be below the 10% foreclosure rates of the Great Depression, but within an order of magnitude and possibly in the vicinity of half of those rates. Too close for my comfort, certainly.

Real Wages

Real wages are down for this generation of adult Americans. Taking men in their 30s as a generational proxy, real wages are 12% less than in 1974. According to the EMP American Dream Report, released in May 2007 (WSJ article quoted here, gated version here):

Beginning with a comparison of men ages 30-39 in 1994 with their fathers' generation, men ages 30-39 in 1964, we see a small, but fairly insignificant, amount of intergenerational progress...Adjusting for inflation, median income increased by less than $2000 between 1964 and 1994, from about $31,000 to under $33,000 -- a 5 percent increase (0.2 percent per year) during this thirty-year period.

The story changes for a younger cohort. Those in their thirties in 2004 had a median income of about $35,000 a year. Men in their fathers’ cohort, those who are now in their sixties, had a median income of about $40,000 when they were the same age in 1974. Indeed, there has been no progress at all for the youngest generation. As a group, they have on average 12 percent less income than their fathers’ generation at the same age.

Bottom line, our condition ain't everything it should be. It's pretty clear that the experiment in relatively unbridled capitalism over the last 30 years or so has failed many Americans. It's time for change.

There's more...

The Rule of Law

Supreme Court Strikes Down Challenge to Washington State Elections

Good for the Supreme Court.

Some of my liberal colleagues are up in arms about yesterday's Supreme Court ruling (7-2) in Washington State Grange v. Washington State Republican Party, which said that, at least for now, the top two vote-getters in Washington State's primary election, regardless of political party, will advance to the general election.

My liberal colleagues are upset because they see this as the Court giving the finger to a political party's ability to control who its members are.

That is not what has happened.

The Supreme Court is acting precisely how we as progressives, committed to restoring the RULE OF LAW in the United States, should want them to act.

The Justices -- with all four of the "liberal" Justices in the majority -- did precisely what high school civics classes, back when we had high school civics classes, told their students is the role of the Judicial branch: ruled narrowly, only on the issue in front of them, and avoided making sweeping constitutional pronouncements when there was a way to avoid doing so (and there was.)

The job of the Judicial branch is to let the Legislative and Executive branches do their job, and to step in only when the law needs interpreting, to rule as narrowly as possible, and then to get back out of the way.

This is precisely what The Supreme Court did yesterday. Under Chief Justice Roberts we should expect to see this more often.

Good.

The key distinction in Washington State Grange v. Washington State Republican Party is FACIALLY v. AS-APPLIED.

• Facially means the law as written, i.e.: Black-letter law, e.g.: Revised Code of Washington (RCW).
• As-applied means the law as implemented, e.g.: Washington Administrative Code plus how the law works in practice in the lives of real people.

The Justices are saying they are unwilling to consider if the law is unconstitutional on its face (as written), because it has never been implemented. The Supreme Court says it is not the place of the Judicial branch:

• to decide if the Legislative branch has made a mistake,
• absent the Executive branch implementing the law in a way in which real people are harmed,
  
• unless the law clearly violates the written Constitution/Amendments or a previous (Constitutional) ruling of the Court, e.g.: imposes prior restraint on free speech, or imposes restrictions on abortion in the first trimester.

Otherwise, the Court is unwilling to rule against a law simply since someone says someday, somehow, the law might violate the Constitution if implemented poorly.

As this law has not yet been implemented, the Court says, we know our Constitutional role and refuse to over-reach. If once the law has been implemented, you believe you are harmed, make your case then. We have not ruled on the fundamental claim you are making as a constitutional issue; you have not been harmed and possibly never will be. We have said only that we will not reach your core claim today, and -- which is why we refuse to go further -- perhaps it will not ever be necessary to reach to the constitutional claim.

Youngstown Sheet & Tube Co. v. Sawyer, 343 U.S. 579 (1952)
(The Steel Seizure Case)

Mr. Justice Frankfurter, Concurring

The Framers, however, did not make the judiciary the overseer of our government. They were familiar with the revisory functions entrusted to judges in a few of the States, and refused to lodge such powers in this Court. Judicial power can be exercised only as to matters that were the traditional concern of the courts at Westminster, and only if they arise in ways that to the expert feel of lawyers constitute "Cases" or "Controversies." Even as to questions that were the staple of judicial business, it is not for the courts to pass upon them unless they are indispensably involved in a conventional litigation -- and then only to the extent that they are so involved. Rigorous adherence to the narrow scope of the judicial function is especially demanded in controversies that arouse appeals to the Constitution. The attitude with which this Court must approach its duty when confronted with such issues is precisely the opposite of that normally manifested by the general public. So-called constitutional questions seem to exercise a mesmeric influence over the popular mind. This eagerness to settle -- preferably forever -- a specific problem on the basis of the broadest possible constitutional pronouncements may not unfairly be called one of our minor national traits. An English observer of our scene has acutely described it:

At the first sound of a new argument over the United States Constitution and its interpretation, the hearts of Americans leap with a fearful joy. The blood stirs powerfully in their veins, and a new lustre brightens their eyes. Like King Harry's men before Harfleur, they stand like greyhounds in the slips, straining upon the start.

The Economist, May 10, 1952, p. 370.

The path of duty for this Court, it bears repetition, lies in the opposite direction. Due regard for the implications of the distribution of powers in our Constitution and for the nature of the judicial process as the ultimate authority in interpreting the Constitution, has not only confined the Court within the narrow domain of appropriate adjudication. It has also led to "a series of rules under which it has avoided passing upon a large part of all the constitutional questions pressed upon it for decision." Brandeis, J., in Ashwander v. Tennessee Valley Authority, 297 U.S. 288, 341, 346. A basic rule is the duty of the Court not to pass on a constitutional issue at all, however narrowly it may be confined, if the case may, as a matter of intellectual honesty, be decided without even considering delicate problems of power under the Constitution. It ought to be, but apparently is not, a matter of common understanding that clashes between different branches of the government should be avoided if a legal ground of less explosive potentialities is properly available.

Bravo. This is the Rule of Law.

For seven long years we have watched the criminals of the Bush/Cheney administration refuse to enforce the law, and the Republican Party turn away.

Yesterday, The Supreme Court said, this Court stands for the rule of law. All four liberal Justices agreed, just as they did in Hamdan v. Rumsfeld.

I am shocked this decision was not 9-0. Even Justice Thomas understands one of the central functions of the Courts is, when it is possible to not reach to an answer, it is necessary to not reach to an answer (with rare exceptions.) This is called judicial restraint. It is a fundamental part of how our Courts, the law, and the Separation of Powers work. If the Courts did not so restrain themselves, soon the Courts would be interjecting themselves into every damn thing willy-nilly, and the last bastion of freedom from tyranny we have would be lost to politics.

My deep congratulations to the Supreme Court for demonstrating that -- at least when it isn't fractured along political lines -- the Court can still be trusted to follow the Rule of Law.

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Washington State Republican Caucus Update

via TPMMuckraker we have this report:

So why did Esser call the race with 13% of the delegates still outstanding? "He was giving his analysis," the spokesman said. "He said it appears John McCain has won. This wasn't a certainty." (The party's press release, titled "Sen. McCain Wins Republican Precinct Caucuses in Washington State," bore no such ambiguity.) People who had participated in the caucuses had naturally "expected to hear results and hear analysis of what they had spent the whole day doing," he explained.

Huckabee is demanding a recount, and he is gaining on McCain in Virgina. Isn't it time for Chuck Norris's tired old ass to start showing back up on TV?

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Shenanigans in Washington State

McCain       3,468 26% 87% reporting
Huckabee   3,226 24%

Did Huckabee win in Washington State? Yesterday, after Huckabee leading all day in Washington, at the last minute the Washington State republican party issued a press release showing John McCain pulling ahead by 1 or 2 percentage points and calling the race for McCain. They never updated the voter totals or turnout after the 87%. Huckabee, after winning the 2 other states that held elections for the Republicans yesterday, got very suspicious about the results.

The Huckabee campaign is deeply disturbed by the obvious irregularities in the Washington State Republican precinct caucuses. It is very unfortunate that the Washington State Party Chairman, Luke Esser, chose to call the race for John McCain after only 87 percent of the vote was counted. According to CNN, the difference between Senator McCain and Governor Huckabee is a mere 242 votes, out of more than 12,000 votes counted-with another 1500 or so votes, apparently, not counted. That is an outrage.

Huckabee has now sent lawyers to Washington state, presumably to audit the votes. This race is not over.

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Campaign Trail Note #3

I failed caucus class Saturday. *sighs*

My report at techPresident, the technical story of the Presidential race.

techPresident

Failing the Mobile Caucus Test in WA State
by Jesse Wendel

I didn't caucus in Washington State today. Of course, it's my own damn fault for not knowing where my caucus meets.

Personally, I blame the campaigns. They failed the mobile wireless test.

Caucus time is 1 pm. Doors close at 1:30. Left the house at 12:55. Plenty of time; after all, I vote just up the street at the elementary school. Arrived precisely at 1 pm...to an empty parking lot.

Oh yeah. I remember reading, "your caucus location is different from your polling location." No problem. It's an elementary school. That much I remember.

Twenty-eight minutes...

How hard can it be?

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This being part of your community stuff -- much harder than it looks.

NOTE: Nothing in this post should be construed as an endorsement of either Democratic candidate for president. It is an article with facts and opinions about politics. I have not made up my mind, and GNB is not endorsing any candidate until there is a clear nominee. I intend to add this to all my political posts from now till we have a nominee.

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