Posted Fri, Apr 20, 8:56 a.m.

Been down this road before many times. The long term "vision thing" does not work so well in a highly politicized environment.

Posted Thu, Apr 12, 11:58 a.m.

This issue - the evils of coal exporting - deserves a thorough environmental analysis. But it does not warrant the theological dimension given it by proponents or opponents.

Posted Thu, Apr 12, 11:53 a.m.

Okay, I would not buy the stock, nor would I necessarily offer a Groupon if I was a small business owner. But as a consumer it, living social, and others: not such a bad deal if you are selective. As for Costco, my favorite grocery store and wish I had ...

Posted Fri, Mar 30, 10:46 a.m.

A new day for Federalism, and say good-bye to McCulloch v Maryland. And the "coercive" power of "Your money or your life"? A new day for Federal grants to States. The balance of power among the branches of government is shifting, and not for the better.

Posted Thu, Mar 29, 8:26 p.m.

Head-fake

Posted Wed, Mar 21, 8:37 a.m.

Regarding Sgt Bates, we are trying to reason what can't be reasoned. See David Brook's column in yesterday's NYT. http://www.nytimes.com/2012/03/20/opinion/brooks-when-the-good-do-bad.html?_r=1&ref;=davidbrooks

Posted Mon, Mar 19, 9:25 p.m.

The article's most accurate statement is that "there is something for everyone to hate" about the CRC.

Posted Fri, Mar 16, 10:55 a.m.

OMG, Seattle Board.

Posted Tue, Mar 13, 9:36 p.m.

Need Inslee? Opinions vary. But leaving your congressional constituents in the lurch and unrepresented? Not speaking well for Mr. Inslee.

Posted Fri, Mar 9, 10:07 a.m.

Denny Heck will be a great Congressman. And so will Derek Kilmer. The torch is passed and it is in good hands.

Posted Tue, Mar 6, 8:12 p.m.

Forget the MOHAI collection. The globe belongs exactly where it is, appropriately maintained. If Portland can save its "White Stag" sign, surely Seattle can do no less.http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/White_Stag_sign

Posted Wed, Feb 29, 12:26 p.m.

The Darrington "fire lookout" issue is a good "micro case" example of an endemic problem, and an issue which repeats itself many times over in both urban and rural areas. And I do not single out environmental groups, although environmental laws are frequently used as both a "sword" and a ...

Posted Thu, Feb 23, 11:05 a.m.

John - The fact that President Clinton signed DOMA is irrelevant to my point. Shame on Clinton. I demonize no one. The law should not extend to private lives.

Posted Wed, Feb 22, 10:51 a.m.

Interesting politics for political junkies. But to be clear: This should not be a political issue. People want to get married? Fine. From an independent Democrat's sometimes trending libertarian perspective, if people find love and want a ceremony to celebrate it,and they are doing me no harm, they should have ...

Posted Wed, Feb 22, 10:32 a.m.

Great story, great station, and have frequented it. The volunteers are super. My question: Did Amtrak ever stop in a more central Olympia location and, if so, why did it chose to move to east Olympia? Amtrak in Olympia is inconvenient to most travelers.

Posted Mon, Feb 6, 5:30 p.m.

No children still in college but - yes - I am a "surly Washington parent." Even more so given the UW President's quote in the NY Times story: "...a few of [surly parents]whom have even asked Michael K. Young, the university president, whether their children could get in if they ...

Posted Wed, Feb 1, 1:21 p.m.

H.B. 2251 by Joe Fitzgibbon? Repeal a subversive organization bill left over from 1951 and never enforced? Now that's what I call a really heavy lift!

Posted Tue, Jan 24, 8:12 a.m.

This issue's proponents and opponents are so polarized it is difficult to rationally discuss. 1. Yes, more money is needed for all schools but that is a separate issue. Education dollars: The money follows the child; it is for the child's educations, not the school's perpetuation. 2. Yes, there are ...

Posted Thu, Jan 19, 11:08 a.m.

Observation from one who simply observes: (1) the Seattle School Board seems more about politics than education for children and (2) why any reputable candidate would apply for the Superintendent's position is beyond me.

Posted Thu, Jan 12, 6:11 p.m.

Ivan - "Ridicule" you say? And name calling to boot: "charter pimps." That's the best you can bring to the table? "Back to school time" in decorum should be in your future:) And such verbal hostility because many of us want to be able to chose what is best for ...

Posted Thu, Jan 12, 11:12 a.m.

On the "I love charter schools": I do not "love them" nor "hate them." Some are good; others, not so good. The issue is choice. Parental choice. If that makes me a libertarian, so be it. But parent's can choose to home school, and no one objects. Or parent's can ...

Posted Mon, Jan 9, 11:07 a.m.

Spot on!

Posted Fri, Dec 30, 10:08 a.m.

Having lived in both, hands down Portland. A real transportation system, a functioning (as opposed to dysfunctional)local government, all of the great coffee houses, book stores, and quality theater you want, and the Columbia River Gorge.

Posted Mon, Dec 26, 10:31 a.m.

Kudos to Danny Westneat and in your own shop to Pete Jackson's "midday scans"

Posted Fri, Dec 2, 12:01 p.m.

At what point do we stop feeling positive about our own Congressional elected's and view them as part of a dysfunctional system that needs to be replaced. In the Super (not) Committee, the Congressional "leadership" selectively chose members who were unlikely to reach agreement. Those members who had supported Simpson-Bowles ...

Posted Thu, Nov 24, 10 a.m.

Thanks for this important article. Valuable insight into how the world of consumerism has changed our society, not necessarily for the better. I don't usually use the word "family values" but in this instance it might be a predicate for another word, "society values." Except in this case "society values" ...

Posted Wed, Nov 23, 10 a.m.

"Supercommittee" is this year's oxymoron. We have - bottom line - a ,dysfunctional government unable to act in any meaningful way. The Republican's have the "Norquist pledge" and the Democrats have their unwillingness to support the bipartisan "Simpson-Bowles" recommendations from the committee appointed by the President. But wait, the President ...

Posted Thu, Oct 13, 11:02 a.m.

Good article. The "Occupy Wall Street" has the wrong target. "Wall Street" has only taken advantage of what "Washington" has enabled. And unless "Occupy" decamps to the south and becomes "Occupy Washington" with a real "agenda," even if loosely defined, it will be remembered as an assembly of scruffy anarchists ...

Posted Mon, Oct 10, 11:39 a.m.

The "Occupy Wall Street" movement deserves attention. I get the "99%" part of it, but "Wall Street" is largely doing what Congress has enabled. Easy to blame Wall Street but who cannot honestly say they might not take advantage of such a situation? It's the "Enablers," not "Wall Street" that ...

Posted Thu, Sep 29, 10:58 a.m.

Couple of thoughts. * I long for a Parliamentary form of government where the majority party can actually decide something in a timely manner. * We should never have needed a "Super Committee" to make these decisions if our elected officials in both parties had anything approaching a profile in ...

Posted Fri, Mar 4, 11:56 a.m.

Trust and accountability are the "words of the day." Focusing on past Superintendent's foibles is a reminder that history repeats itself in the SPS system. Bad history. Bad news. But that is only a symptom of what repeatedly leads to these events. "Culture" and "governance" are at the heart of ...

Posted Thu, Nov 25, 11:12 a.m.

2008 the moderate R's got wiped out and 2010 the moderate D's got wiped out. Don't know if the "radical middle" can get organized but an "adult intervention" is long overdue.

Posted Sun, Jul 18, 4:24 p.m.

Peter You may be selling Scoop a little short. My ancestry spoke highly of concerns about Native Americans, and he would not have said so unless it was so. Forest Gerard made a differencein this area, as did Jim Wickwire in Alaska nations. Bill Van Ness was critical in the ...

Posted Fri, Oct 9, 9:45 a.m.

"Seattle decision making" is an oxymoron.

Posted Sun, Sep 27, 9 p.m.

So is it the orca that maybe endangers the salmon as much as climate change? From today's Oregonian Killer whales love to dine on chinook salmon, which could further endanger their future By Joe Rojas-Burke, The Oregonian September 27, 2009, 4:25PM Elaine Thompson, Associated PressTurns out the killer whales off ...

Posted Fri, Sep 25, 10:35 a.m.

As an advocacy article, I understand Mr. Chasan's comment that "Arguably, nothing much has changed scientifically or politically since the first Snake River salmon populaton was listed in 1991, except that there have been more listings, fewer salmon, and some shuffling of the political deck chairs." However, a careful reading ...

Posted Fri, Aug 7, 9:54 a.m.

Looked at from a distance it is oh so true. The rest of us strive to avoid "the Seattle way" (process forever the big issues like the Viaduct) and fight hard about the smaller ones (the "bag tax")

Posted Sun, Jul 26, 11:42 a.m.

Peter - We lived in Everett for several years after my graduation from law school. The Collins Building is a landmark and should be preserved not only because it is a historic building but because it can be incorporated in the Port's plan and help generate jobs, like the Weyerhauser ...

Posted Thu, Feb 26, 10:55 a.m.

To refresh the body politic's memory, and especially Mr. Berger's, it was the "incremental, wonkish, pandering to big business" Governor Locke who spearheaded into law the strongest C02/Greenhouse Gas mitigation law in the nation. Not bad for someone so "spinless." Spiro Agnew, a crook and no role model of mine, ...

Posted Mon, Jan 26, 9:55 a.m.

A centralized, regional plan is a great idea and it is the way it should be done. It is also largely unrealistic. It involves process, lots of process, process which goes on for years and, when it is completed, history shows that some important constituency will be unhappy and argue ...

Posted Thu, Nov 27, noon

I agree with Charlie: Put the funds into services for homeless families. It is a matter of allocating financial resources. And as to those remaining, maybe a permanent "Bushville Camp" would be worth considering. But my biggest takeaway from your article is that the rest of us should not assume ...

Posted Tue, Nov 18, 10:47 a.m.

Crosscut is a fine publication and worthy of my - hopefully modest - financial support. The demise of print media andc the attendant challenges presented to journalism are significant and new models that support intelligent, thoughtful writing about timely and controversial subjects are appreciated.

Posted Mon, Sep 15, 4:28 p.m.

Palin is the Reincarnation of Washington's Congresswoman Linda Smith: I agree that Palin is unqualified and that she will implode given enough time. The question is whether there is enough time. I also agree that McCain and not Palin should be the target. The economy is the issue and the ...

Posted Thu, Jul 10, 10:57 a.m.

Thank God He Does Not Repesent Me: Those progressives of us who live away from "The Emerald City" read about Jim Mc'D's travels and travails. Our elected's focus on taking care of their constituents which does involve a modicum of compromise. As long as Jim remains in Congress his District ...

Posted Thu, May 8, 8:51 p.m.

Another Bold Leadership Initiaitve: Now that's making a difference in the world: ban bottled water. Can we have a little "process" with that too?

Posted Tue, Apr 29, 2:23 p.m.

Leadership and Vision: Eddie Carlson, Jim Ellis, and others had long term "vision and leadership" and, in a metropolitan area where "Every Elected Is A King" (apologies to Huey Long), provided third party ideas and proposals that the "Kings" would otherwise have been unable to adopt in a "government by ...

Posted Thu, Apr 17, 6:01 p.m.

Spot on: Point conceded: Redfish Lake wasn't poisoned by Idaho Fish and Game, but nearby Pettit and Alturas lakes were. And thus began what now approaches a nearly 25 year salmon saving exercise that has spent billions to "hold the line." As to the Snake River dams, one of the ...

Posted Tue, Apr 15, 11:35 p.m.

Recovery Is a "Bottomless Pit": This is a good overview of an intractable issue around which there has grown an industry which now numbers in the 1000's of employees. Tragically, the goal for many is as much or more about self-preservation of economic interests as it is about salmon recovery. ...

Posted Wed, Apr 9, 11:07 a.m.

My Choice; My Accountability: Society makes me accountable for all of my decisions other than when I choose to leave it. This is an individual decision, not a religious one. While I may have to account to my higher power if I make this decision, that too is a decision ...

Posted Mon, Apr 7, 4:46 p.m.

Return to Go, Re-read Your Own Column: And after doing so, tell me whether you are still going to vote for McDermott?

Posted Tue, Mar 25, 8:11 p.m.

Seattle or Tacoma?: Not living in either City, but as a frequent visitor to both, Tacoma versus Seattle is not a difficult choice. Tacoma: Decent downtown without offensive panhandlers, minimal commuting hassles, reasonable and affordable housing, good schools, growing cultural life, responsible and responsive elected officials, both City, County, Congressional. ...

Posted Wed, Mar 12, 10:03 a.m.

Boing Boing: We don't know why Boeing lost the conract. We are fairly certain that the wnning bidder's Europea allies are subsidized by the governments. Free trade is great to a point but if the latter is the case a "level playing field" there was not! As regards UW Everett, ...

Posted Wed, Feb 27, 9:19 p.m.

Remember Frank Church and Wayne Morse: Peter's article is excellent, as usual. Charisma and oritorical skills are critical to political leadership. Certainly both have shown themselves in the current Presidential campaign to an extent I can't recall since chairing the local Youth for John Kennedy in 1960. And it feels ...