ruffner

Active since February 2009

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ruffner's comments

A local book publisher laments Amazon's impact

Posted Fri, Apr 20, 8:18 a.m.

"Better World Books" offers an alternative for purchasing paper books online and they actually appear to be doing with some heart.

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Less insult, more discourse: How Seattle should talk about schools

Posted Fri, Apr 20, 8:07 a.m.

"Lose the patriarchal “we know best” attitude." How about the sexist Matriarchal "I know best" attitude?

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Inside Politics 2012: It's the gas prices, stupid!

Posted Tue, Mar 20, 3:27 p.m.

It seems that there is a negative correlation between the economy and gas prices, when one falls the other goes up. Either way it gives the party out of favor a failure to point to.

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Arena deal should change our thinking about bonds for the public good

Posted Thu, Feb 23, 8:23 a.m.

Why are taxes put in place at all? If the purpose of incremental new taxes can be diverted to a specific individual benefit, then isn't this akin to the idea of standing up at a performance to see better (individual benefit) while everyone has to remain seated (everyone else pays). ...

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Light rail and streetcars could double up on voters next year

Posted Fri, Nov 25, 8:24 a.m.

http://gondolaproject.com/tag/urban-gondola/ Ballard to the U district would be a perfect place to install one of these.

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Voters aside, Seattle is full speed ahead on rail

Posted Mon, Nov 21, 10:57 a.m.

Why not Gondolas? Smaller footprint, exponentially cheaper (millions for a build out, not billions), non congestive to other traffic and entertaining besides. This link shows an illustration http://forum.skyscraperpage.com/showthread.php?t=177094

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Dear environmentalists, there is no such thing as 'pristine wilderness'

Posted Thu, Oct 20, 9:55 a.m.

In the middle of this discussion is some confluence of a genetically ingrained memory of the Savannah grasslands of our ancient forebears and the arcadian idealism of the 17th century English garden estates. The thoughts of an ideal natural landscape are rooted somewhere between reminiscences and daydreams.

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Weekend tech blog: Only a few age-related tears for the printed book

Posted Mon, Apr 18, 10:33 a.m.

I'm still holding for the ability to pass on a book I have read to another reader, that is delete it from my e-reader and add to another's e-reader over the internet. Imagine, you could read a good book, then give it to your brother across the country. This has ...

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The future of Pugetopolis: inspired by IKEA?

Posted Thu, Mar 17, 7:25 a.m.

IKEA - you assemble something from there, you better not count on moving it or having much adaptability or it will collapse into press board crap. Is this really a model for government?

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How great corporate power shadows Gregoire on coal shipments

Posted Wed, Mar 9, 12:52 p.m.

I think these are the same guys that started Redhook brewery, which I think was the first microbrewery around here..

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Making a waterfront park that fits Seattle's culture

Posted Fri, Feb 25, 2:49 p.m.

I don't disagree about the monorail, the gondola cost is about 5 to 10 percent the cost of a monorail with almost no land acquisition required...

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Making a waterfront park that fits Seattle's culture

Posted Thu, Feb 24, 7:53 a.m.

I have been intrigued lately by the use of low rise gondolas as a way to move pedestrian traffic around town. This may be a way to preserve some of the view potential ambiance of the waterfront as well a providing a practical transportation system. This transportation method is coming ...

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Will state debt bring paralyzing protests our way?

Posted Tue, Feb 22, 8:40 a.m.

I'm a homeowner. When I assess the needs of our house and property, I first look at the necessary maintenance of what we already have to reasonably optimize its performance. Only after that do I even consider the addition of further improvements. The state and local governments should do the ...

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Why we should transform Seattle Center from a theater district to a park

Posted Tue, Feb 15, 9:04 a.m.

From a simple users viewpoint: We have season tickets to a theater at the Center. We usually meet friends about 6 or so and have dinner nearby. We park on the street convenient to the restaurant. It seems that the tipping point of one more thing may change our habits. ...

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One Dish: Succulent oxtails at Black Bottle

Posted Fri, Feb 11, 7:53 a.m.

Too bad this place is in the new parking restricted zone, oh well...

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'Riding Pretty': bikes as fashion accessories

Posted Mon, Nov 29, 12:31 p.m.

If you are concerned about a greasy chain, buy a bike with a shaft drive, no problem, I've got one a bought last year, it works great.

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Why I-1098 would be very bad news for Washington state

Posted Fri, Sep 24, 8:18 a.m.

Talk about selective and distorted fact use. The 4th or 5th highest rates in the country? For me and 98% of other taxpayers in the state the rate is 0%. How can this be the highest rate? A $400 per month tax credit is of marginal use because 43% of ...

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Four powerhouse teams named finalists in central waterfront design

Posted Wed, Sep 1, 8:14 a.m.

I think it would be really incredible if the design included demolishing the top level, but keeping the lower level of the viaduct (which is not by itself seismically threatened), using it as a promenade for walkers,etc. with several connections to 1st ave. This allows a view over the top ...

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Should Seattle have an income tax?

Posted Mon, Jul 19, 9:03 a.m.

Why not have a modest subscription fee for the library? A modest annual user fee of say $10 or so could perhaps allow services to be restored, and could be managed as part of the library card system.

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Tunnel contract: State is the one on the hook

Posted Wed, Jun 9, 9:15 a.m.

Sorry about the digression, but why not keep the bottom half (the lower lanes) of the viaduct and turn them into an elevated garden/walkway/bikeway? The instability of the viaduct is apparently due to the top level structure. The Highline project in New York shows how this could work. The link ...

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Costco will make enemies as it goes after liquor sales

Posted Thu, May 27, 10:29 a.m.

It seemed like a good idea to me until I saw the full page "Example Ad" in the Times and realized that we would be blitzed with an unending amount of similar ads in every medium. That alone is enough to prompt me to pass on this idea.

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No Tea-Party frenzy: Why Australia escaped U.S-made downturn

Posted Mon, May 17, 9:39 a.m.

"If we could only get a handle on health care costs(which our democrat-led feds failed to do) as well as put common sense environmental regs in place, yes, even off-shore drilling, we might have a chance for competing for a quality of life." Or perhaps we should quit blaming one ...

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Something about Harry

Posted Fri, Apr 23, 4:39 p.m.

re: Sandy Hill YEAH BABY!

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Progressive tax might make a breakthrough in state

Posted Fri, Apr 23, 8:18 a.m.

I like the idea of taxation systems distributed amongst different forms of manifest wealth. The ability to accumulate (income tax), the ability to spend (sales tax), and the ability to hold wealth (property tax) are each legitimate forms of economic activity that are enhanced by the support systems provided by ...

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What would Republicans do about the state budget?

Posted Tue, Mar 9, 2:45 p.m.

It is very difficult to get the actual details of the problem. Is there a $12 billion drop in revenue and spending is flat? Is there a $12 billion increase in spending and revenue is flat? It never seems to come up in any reports for example in comparing where ...

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Sales tax increase rises from its political grave

Posted Mon, Feb 22, 10:14 a.m.

An even application of the sales tax to more activities would be part of a better solution. Why not put sales tax on professional (legal and accounting) fees and look through all the other exemptions currently in force? This would in fairness cause examination the relevant B&O; rates, but it ...

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Could Seattle have a fighting shot at keeping its NOAA ships?

Posted Sat, Feb 13, 8:06 a.m.

Off on a tangent here, don't you mean "graduate FROM high school, rather than perform some some sort gradation verb on a school?

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Puget Sound report makes no waves

Posted Wed, Feb 10, 10:47 a.m.

So, what does the acronym SRKW stand for?

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Seniority-based layoffs at Seattle Schools may be crumbling

Posted Thu, Jun 11, 7:50 a.m.

The district is reimbursed by the state for buses. If they stopped businng, the money would also stop...

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Pay taxes. Be happy.

Posted Wed, Apr 22, noon

Mr Vance's theory that all we need to do is advance the pyramid scheme of growth pay for everything is a big reason why we have gotten into the environmental and economic mess we are in. Please think in terms of sustainability, not some society wide ponzi scheme.

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Stalking the elusive state-tax dollar

Posted Thu, Mar 12, 10:44 a.m.

like ruffner said, do the cuts.

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Stalking the elusive state-tax dollar

Posted Thu, Mar 12, 9:21 a.m.

Gee guys(Cameron, PJS) , lets give you the budget and tell us who and what should be cut to balance an $8.3B shortfall. It seems that there is a significant infrastructure in place and maintained paid by taxes that has raised our society out the mud, and those who make ...

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Husky basketballers keep on over-achieving

Posted Mon, Feb 23, 10:45 a.m.

Is there something to be done about the damn tournament always being in UCLA's And USC's back yard? Is there some sharp lawyer out that can sue or injunct or something to stop this restraint of trade? Why not circulate the tournament around to each area (WA, OR, AZ, NCA, ...

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A quick jolt to the creative economy

Posted Tue, Feb 17, 12:26 p.m.

All reasonable points, I am advocating that there not a preference given from the viewpoint of tax policy with regard to how money is earned. This way the individual, small business, and investors know what kind of taxes are in the offing regardless of how they go about making a ...

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A quick jolt to the creative economy

Posted Thu, Feb 12, 7:47 a.m.

So this continues the idea that money making money has a special status of tax preference over personal time and effort making money. Over history, every nation that has fallen into the trap of thinking that money productivity can take the place of and is preferable to human productivity has ...

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