Posted Wed, Apr 25, 6:12 p.m.

When I read an article like this that says absolutely nothing new, I figure the author has in mind to run for some sort of elected office (again, in Bozeman's case), and is running a draft flag up the flagpole to see if anyone remembers them.

Posted Tue, Apr 24, 8:09 p.m.

Gracie Hansen didn't become deputy mayor, more's the pity.

Posted Tue, Apr 24, 4:46 p.m.

Well, PaulKirk, the focus on the self has not proven to be Philip Roth's downfall, nor has it displeased his readers. And what great art requires is not courage, but talent. Bad art quite often displays courage, to no one's benefit.

Posted Mon, Apr 9, 10:16 p.m.

There are two indications that the status of some unemployed people is not as dire as that of other unemployed people: they mention that they are "consulting" (meaning that they have a profession within which to consult) and they have "investments". Those really in trouble have neither, and they are ...

Posted Sat, Apr 7, 7:12 p.m.

On the choose-to-be-homeless issue, try to imagine a child thinking, "When I grow up, I want to be homeless."

Posted Thu, Apr 5, 10:40 p.m.

Animalal, name your sources (who apparently have only one business card). Hearsay is not credible unless there's a cite.

Posted Tue, Apr 3, 9:32 p.m.

Animalal, your "sources" are wrong. Social Security does not hire lawyers, and certainly 100 people have not been hired locally. However, SSA has hired more clerks to process claims in Washington because of the imminent end of Disability Lifeline, which used to give about $650 month to people temporarily unable ...

Posted Fri, Mar 30, 11:21 p.m.

I voted for McKenna for AG also, Cameron. AG's quite a different job than governor. Many of us actually think when we discuss issues, and when we vote. You apparently rely upon strawmen arguments rather than thought. God knows what you do when you vote.

Posted Fri, Mar 30, 11 a.m.

What a ridiculous article, seemingly written by a first-year journalism student. He says, "One single-family advocate, MVH, commented, 'I believe that people who live and/or own property in a neighborhood should have a special status in planning for their neighborhood's future.' The commenter concluded, “A clear majority of Seattle voters ...

Posted Tue, Mar 27, 7:58 p.m.

Folks like us, Kieth, don't vote for Republicans because we know who they are. Democracy is being able to come to those conclusions and vote according to them.

Posted Sat, Mar 24, 10:44 p.m.

The fact that the military has treated like appliances rather than human beings doesn't conflict with the probable fact that Bales was mentally unstable. I'd think the latter is consistent with the murder of at least 16 people, most of whom were children.

Posted Thu, Mar 22, 11:15 p.m.

The big money of the Republicans hasn't failed. It has made Romney the frontrunner and it will assure the big media buys for every Reublican candidate for the foreseeable future.

Posted Wed, Mar 21, 11:40 p.m.

Richard Borkowski, so you don't think that multiple deployments in the horrendous conditions that obtain in Iraq and Afghanistan, a head injury, and PTSD could possibly affect someone to the point of committing these kinds of acts? Just what else do you think is necessary in that person's recent history ...

Posted Mon, Mar 12, 9:22 p.m.

Could we please get some oversight of comments so these long streams of names and the continual harping on tribes and non-profits don't drive people away?

Posted Thu, Mar 8, 9:52 p.m.

Harris Meyer, David Broder is dead. Your analogies are dead also: the major media are idealogues of the right end of the political spectrum now, not the central.

Posted Mon, Mar 5, 9:59 p.m.

The Senate Dems have been talking with the Senate Republicans about a budget since the session. The Dems held hearings on the issues, with the publics' input heard. That lasted for weeks. The Republican budget was introduced 5 days before session was scheduled to end, without hearings and without even ...

Posted Mon, Mar 5, 2:03 p.m.

The saddest thing about politics today is that any random prejudiced guy who calls himself a pastor gets his BS in the news.

Posted Thu, Mar 1, 10:01 p.m.

Are you through, PaulKirk? The French method of raising children is what US parents did in the mid-20th century. No more, no less.

Posted Wed, Feb 29, 2:39 p.m.

There's an unpleasant noblesse oblige tone to this article. " Auburn, 10 miles south of downtown Seattle, is home to a population of Ukrainian families...one barely hears any English being spoken. Customers jostle the sumptuous bread counter stuffed with dark loaves, while a few yards away diners are slurping down ...

Posted Sun, Feb 26, 11:16 p.m.

This pole was at least 30 feet long, and heavy not only in itself (being solid) but also included the addition of 2x4s which allowed it to be carried. And it was carried entirely by humans; no machines or wagons involved. Human beings carried that incredibly long heavy pole all ...

Posted Fri, Feb 24, 1:14 p.m.

And then there are the corporations which pay no federal income tax on their multibillion-dollar profits, and individuals like Mitt Romney who pay a lower percentage of their multibillion-dollar income than does someone with a $30K yearly income.

Posted Tue, Feb 21, 2:27 p.m.

Washington's tax structure is not unfair to property owners. No state is unfair to property owners, because property owners may take a nice deduction on their federal taxes (even property owners who have multi-million dollar houses, and those who have second homes). Property owners who are landlords pass their property ...

Posted Mon, Feb 20, 9:10 p.m.

I hardly meant that wealthy people being privileged over poor people is a benign practice. I'll try to be more clear: as bkochis says, rather than being targeted, the poor are ignored -- they are not considered part of our human community. That's extremely dangerous, both to poor people and ...

Posted Mon, Feb 20, 2:41 p.m.

An extremely well-researched and written article, Judy, one which will serve as a reference for many who are concerned with this issue. Crossrip, everything you said is correct as far as the effects of our non-system on poor people, but there's no real evidence that poor people are deliberately targeted, ...

Posted Sun, Feb 12, 9:48 p.m.

JFK's personal life is not "seeping out" now. It seeped out about 20 years ago; we heard about it, we read about it, and it's no longer of any interest to serious people. The latest book by someone who had sex with him is simply an attempt to make money ...

Posted Thu, Feb 9, 11:41 p.m.

Kennedy died more than 48 years ago, TVD. His Presidency was not really notable. Why on earth are you writing about this dreck?

Posted Wed, Feb 8, 7:53 p.m.

McKenna is wherever he thinks he should be on any issue at any given time. Inslee, unfortunately, is simply nowhere. I'm a Democrat but I don't give a damn about green jobs. I do care about jobs, however, and Inslee isn't going to get us there.

Posted Tue, Feb 7, 4:41 p.m.

AN and supersinic, apparently neither of you are reading much about homelessness, why it happens, and to whom it hapens. Shelter turnaways have been increasing, and in fact there are counts, and this year during the day of the count, turnaways of families from shelters was counted. Think of that ...

Posted Sun, Feb 5, 8:16 p.m.

Sea Wolf, do you realize that all those steps you mentioned that were necessary for your mother to mail you that clipping involved actual JOBS? You know, people being employed?

Posted Mon, Jan 30, 8:28 p.m.

The Washington Policy Center is not non-partisan, and is not described as such anywhere but Crosscut (and perhaps the Washington Policy Center).

Posted Fri, Jan 27, 10:03 p.m.

Thanks for the great article, Judy. In last year's One Night Count, 506 people in Seattle were counted living in vehicles. This year it's 519 people. The total unsheltered count -- which includes people sleeping in vehicles, on benches, under roadways, in doorways, and just walking around because they don't ...

Posted Mon, Jan 23, 7:47 p.m.

The Consortium of Universities for Global Health blog has a number of pieces written by John Stang. The Gates Foundation has been a major funder of CUGH global get-togethers. There couldn't be any connection between writing on charter schools and other subjects in which the Foundation has a hand, of ...

Posted Wed, Jan 18, 11:10 p.m.

Bravo to crankyoldlady from another cranky old lady. The high-earner's income tax measure wouldn't have contributed much to state revenue, and people who said (and still say) that an income tax would be OK if we'd have a commensurate amount of sales tax reduction are crazy. If it comes out ...

Posted Sat, Jan 14, 7:18 p.m.

Tax reform is a long-term goal; it won't help people in need now. Ditto for reviewing and sunsetting of tax exemptions. What will help a little--and a little is better than no help at all--would be a 1/2 cent sales tax increase. Yes, it's technically regressive, but wouldn't you be ...

Posted Sat, Jan 14, 7:10 p.m.

Great post, Pythagoras -- thanks.

Posted Fri, Jan 13, 11:55 p.m.

I haven't noticed that there is a deficiency of candidates which (at least publicly) espouse evangelical views. All of the GOP candidates talked about being Christian (except for Huntsman who wasn't really a candidate, perhaps because he didn't do enough of it). This is the most religion-infused primary campaign I ...

Posted Sat, Jan 7, 11:40 p.m.

BlueLight, I've lived in this state for over 40 years now. My daughter was not "imported"; she was born here. My "beef" is not with journalists, because I'm intelligent and knowledgeable enough to figure out who's telling me facts and who isn't. My beef is with people like you who ...

Posted Fri, Jan 6, 3:20 p.m.

By "take it and do it", you must mean extend medical insurance to kids. That is indeed a heinous example of Vichy collaboration.

Posted Wed, Jan 4, 10:11 p.m.

The program that provides my developmentally disabled daughter with housing, Medicaid, and employment training must cut about half the people under the Governor's budget. She's among that half. She will lose her housing, her Medicaid, and all other services. She cannot live on her own and will have to come ...

Posted Tue, Dec 27, 9:58 p.m.

Could you possibly have found a worse photo for this article? She's wearing no helmet, she has high heels on (really conducive to stability on a bike), she's checking her messages and not looking at traffic, and she's out into the street. Really good example of how to ride a ...

Posted Mon, Dec 19, 10:36 p.m.

Who cares where Patty Murray's husband works? We didn't elect him.

Posted Sun, Dec 18, 8:19 p.m.

Cameron, your sympathy for the Port truck drivers should lead you to advocate with the Port for them to be paid decent wages so that they don't have to sleep in their trucks because they can't afford housing. Otherwise, your words are hypocritical. The SPD is out of control, and ...

Posted Sat, Dec 10, 12:02 a.m.

Farmer's markets are not for poor people; they're about midway between Safeway and Whole Foods, price-wise. Poor people shop in Grocery Outlet, where vegetables and fruits are tired-looking and just a bit cheaper than Safeway.

Posted Tue, Dec 6, 12:10 p.m.

It is great to be able to listen to 18th century music without being jarred back into this century by what must have been the most detestable commercials in the world.

Posted Sat, Dec 3, 11:06 p.m.

Skronk, have you seen photos of the English sitting in their cars looking at the stormy cold oceanfronts to which they have retired for their annual holidays? If they can do it, so can we; the weather is the same. This unrealistic waterfront design reminds me of North Seattle Community ...

Posted Sat, Dec 3, 10:59 p.m.

Xmas is not a secular holiday, because every year there are articles reminding us (especially those of us who are Jewish, etc.) that the true meaning of Christmas is Jesus. Just because there's a crazy commercial side of it doesn't mean it's secular.

Posted Thu, Dec 1, 12:03 a.m.

Apples to oranges. Washington State legislators have other jobs/businesses which allow them to take time off and still give them extra income. Teachers can't do that.

Posted Wed, Nov 30, 9:57 p.m.

What do you suggest, TVD, that the Dems say to the Republicans, "We're sorry you're upset, because all those 'No!' statements must mean you're upset. Otherwise you'd be nice and collaborative. So here's what we'll do: we'll compromise a little more. Will that help? Now give us a smile and ...

Posted Wed, Nov 30, 9:49 p.m.

Where is the money for any of this going to come from? Because we're broke. Considering that, perhaps Chihuly and Tom Douglas could collaborate on something that celebrates their joint artistry. Tourists could throw coconut pies at giant ashtrays.

Posted Sun, Nov 27, 8:04 p.m.

The comment re Gen-Y millenials "basically looking for a safe place to sleepp that has a private bath" is true for many age groups, especially older people without pensions who are existing on Social Security.

Posted Sun, Nov 27, 11:54 a.m.

The only way to control health care costs is to control pharmaceutical costs. Drug costs are the main driver in the rise in premiums; drugs, not procedures, keep people alive and semi-healthy (and semi-happy, in the case of anti-depressants). The US is where Pharma makes its profits; other developed countries ...

Posted Thu, Nov 17, 10:39 p.m.

None of this was necessary to say, because it had all been said when the Catholic priest abuse first became public, which was a number of years ago. But I guess everyone who considers himself to be a writer figures he has to say it again, because if he doesn't, ...

Posted Sat, Nov 12, 7:09 p.m.

Beaky, haven't you noticed that in Washington state, where taxes are not sharply higher, businesses are either folding or laying people off, revenues are down, and deficits are through the roof? Haven't you noticed that in ALL states, those conditions are the case? It's called a recession.

Posted Tue, Nov 8, 11:49 p.m.

For many years, the Harborview ER people have referred to motorcyclists as organ donors.

Posted Tue, Nov 8, 11:46 p.m.

Even considering another woman has publicly spoken out now about her alleged experience with Cain, I doubt if his supporters will abandon him. In fact, they'll just see him as martyr to the liberal press (which he has encouraged today). Unfortunately, the Republican leaders probably won't nominate him because they ...

Posted Mon, Nov 7, 3:42 p.m.

There's a hell of a lot of nasty older-people-bashing in this article. "Blue hairs"? Older women haven't blued their hair for 50 years now. The smiling seniors in the ads are actors, not real people. The poverty rate of older people is going up radically, since many have lost their ...

Posted Sat, Nov 5, 11:33 a.m.

Forget the wine deals -- they have nothing to do with what's really going on in GO. There's a definite theme to the store, and it's disturbing. The radio station that plays in the Lake City store has a DJ who talks about crooked politicians, playing to the assumed attitudes ...

Posted Sat, Nov 5, 11:20 a.m.

Look at the cuts in services levied the last several legislative sessions in Washington, Mr. Robinson, and look at the cuts proposed for this coming special session. As someone else said, your friendship circle apparently contains no one whose life has been and will be made almost untenable by these ...

Posted Tue, Nov 1, 11:35 p.m.

Until polling includes opinions from people who clean offices or work at McDonald's, polls mean nothing. "Most people are really with us, but we need to pivot our communications strategy." Well no, they may not be, and pivoting your anything isn't going to help. That phrase only proves that this ...

Posted Tue, Nov 1, 11:49 a.m.

Tell that to Germany and the Scandinavian countries, dbreneman.

Posted Sat, Oct 29, 10:50 p.m.

The photo shows a woman without a helmet, wearing high heels, and texting. That's the best photo you could find of a bicyclist?

Posted Fri, Oct 28, 12:07 a.m.

Rather than what Christians call the Golden Rule, I'd prefer the rule of Hillel: don't do to others that which is painful to yourself. I certainly agree with GaryP: the disgust I feel for the Republican candidates has nothing to do with their religion but with their complete lack of ...

Posted Sun, Oct 23, 12:42 p.m.

I agree with Benjamin. If there's more to it than simply taking more than the allotted break time, then we should hear about the additional stuff. If not, then fairness dictates that whether employees are Muslim Somalis, Zoroastrian Australians, or American Episcopalians, they must follow the workplace rules. Religious freedom ...

Posted Sat, Oct 15, 5:13 p.m.

that's kind of interesting -- the original Tea Party was about taxation without representation. The Wall Street businesses have representation without taxation.

Posted Sat, Oct 15, 11:17 a.m.

So much for an independent on-line media source: Crosscut writers (as a group) were "invited" to a lecture sponsored by the Discovery Institute.

Posted Sat, Oct 15, 12:32 a.m.

The Tea Party events are about as organic as the Republican Party. If Roger Valdez is an activist, the meaning of that word must have changed quite a bit.

Posted Thu, Oct 13, 10:02 p.m.

Bravo, Jan! I blame the Legislature, past and present, more than the Governor. All she can do is propose a budget; they take her proposals, chew them up, and produce their own and pass them. Legislative leaders have talked for years about sunsetting corporate tax exemptions et al. and have ...

Posted Thu, Oct 13, 9:50 p.m.

"Interestingly, leaders at the Treasury, New York Fed, and Fed all thought at the time of TARP that the bailed-out institutions would use their bailout money to keep other parts of the economy afloat." You must be joking, Mr Van Dyk. No one with a brain believes that they truly ...

Posted Mon, Oct 10, 9:53 p.m.

Interesting that priests criticized Columbus, considering how they treated Mesoamericans. Depressing that we talk about the progress we've made since then, considering that we kept slaves 150 years ago and what we've done very recently in Abu Ghraib and are still doing in many countries in the world.

Posted Sat, Oct 8, 10:32 p.m.

kjs, it is indeed not a blessing in disguise for people like you who have been unemloyed long-term. It's awful. But I hope for you son's sake, you don't complain in his hearing about hating to live in your rental just because it's a rental. There are many people who ...

Posted Sat, Oct 8, 10:21 p.m.

I thought that there would be no more discussion of the tunnel, since it's essentially being built. However, Seattle processing continues even when the process is settled.

Posted Fri, Oct 7, 4:53 p.m.

Instead of making silly claims on here about immigrants, Cameron, go talk to some volunteers in local food banks. Ask them if their "existence" needs to be boosted by the rising number of people who need food, and who have to be told that the food bank has run out.

Posted Thu, Oct 6, 10:33 p.m.

Cameron, it really depends on what you call "rich". Most people I'd call extremely wealthy seem to consider themselves middle-class. No one wants to call themselves rich because that's a loaded term. But the key thing is: you don't need any more food, or clothes, or shelter than I do, ...

Posted Thu, Oct 6, 10:22 p.m.

There's really no way to know whether any, some, or all of the people in the local protests have actually done any of the long-slog work in trying to do political work. Anyone who says they haven't, or who implies or downright states that they are the equivalent of trust-fund ...

Posted Thu, Oct 6, 9:32 a.m.

Pepper, young and old activists worked for and elected Obama. We may be disappointed, but that doesn't change the fact that he was elected due largely to the efforts of activists. Activists talk to elected officials. I'm an activist and I've talked with elected officials along with others, young but ...

Posted Thu, Oct 6, 8:34 a.m.

An extremely powerful article, Judy. Our cowboy ethos in this country seems to demand that in hard times, we decrease our tax demands on those who are "earning" the top 1% and increase our demands for free services from the religious community. I know members of dozens of Seattle congregations ...

Posted Mon, Oct 3, 10:44 p.m.

The neighborhood movement is what has caused low-income housing developers and proposed shelter providers to be sued and slammed for trying to fill the needs that almost every neighborhood (except perhaps Laurelhurst) has. The neighborhood movement allowed three people--three--to stall a Compass Center project in Ballard and cause Compass to ...

Posted Sat, Oct 1, 2:48 p.m.

Obama came into a crisis in progress. Whether he did everything possible to deal with that crisis is debatable; the fact that it was not created by him is not.

Posted Sat, Oct 1, 2:42 p.m.

If there were any doubt that the M's owners don't care about Seattle fans, it was removed by the announcement that the two 2012 opening games would be in Tokyo.

Posted Wed, Sep 28, 10:10 p.m.

34 may technically be a 55% increase over 22, Ms. Hurley, but it's not "big". I'm afraid I've read a similar story about a third program in other publications also, so I don't consider it to be a lack of fact-checking on Judy's part.

Posted Tue, Sep 27, 9:17 p.m.

Great article as usual, Judy. However, this new program actually combines the two previous programs at Booth and Angeline's -- it gives slightly more capacity, but it is not a "third" program.

Posted Thu, Sep 22, 11:10 p.m.

I understand and applaud someone like Dr. Robinson appreciating his mother's ability to still experience pleasure. But she is still in the moderate stage, and she does not experience the dementia rage that many do. And I think we need to listen to and care about people who take care ...

Posted Tue, Sep 20, 11:44 p.m.

Being trapped with a SBNR person can indeed be difficult because they all do seem to think they're the first person to declare such and you'll be vitally interested to know why they are SBNR. But I've found it just as difficult to be trapped with someone who notices I'm ...

Posted Tue, Sep 20, 11:31 p.m.

I don't know whether this writer--or any writer--chooses the photos that run with their stories. But look at this one. It was taken in NYC (not Seattle), the woman is not wearing a helmet, she's sitting on her bike pretty far into the street, and she's check her f-ing messages, ...

Posted Sun, Sep 4, 9:23 p.m.

Hillbard, the Ride Free Zone is not gone yet, so your anecdote about your friends is obviously fake. The poor do not have access to free fares. Reduced fares are $27 a month, and that's not exactly free when you're extremely low-income. The lack of chronic homelessness in 1963 had ...

Posted Wed, Aug 31, 10:48 p.m.

Anyone who watched the recent Frontline program about Monsanto's warfare on farmers who try to save their seeds knows that the battle has been won, and not by the right side.

Posted Wed, Aug 31, 10:43 p.m.

Oki's book was published by the Washington Policy Center, a rightwing ideology tank. What does that tell you?

Posted Mon, Aug 22, 11:42 p.m.

There will never be an end to this discussion, will there. When the damned 56-foot diameter boring machine is in there, boring away, getting stuck, whatever, you will all be boring away on blogs, claiming "It's not too late to blahblahblah". But it is.

Posted Mon, Aug 22, 8:43 p.m.

Mr. Harris, the "messenger" is already disgraced. Thrice, in fact, since in addition to your first propaganda piece, you felt it necessary to write two more in the form of comments. When people write things, they often get responses. Get over it.

Posted Thu, Aug 18, 8:39 p.m.

From the ICSC website's mission statement: "ICSC also focuses on publicizing the repercussions of misguided plans to “solve the climate crisis”. This includes, but is not be limited to, the dangerous impacts of attempts to replace conventional energy sources with wind turbines, solar power, biofuels and other ineffective and expensive ...

Posted Mon, Aug 15, 6:38 p.m.

"We" means everyone in the state, Cameron.

Posted Sun, Aug 14, 11:45 p.m.

The State is pushing this project. No one else really matters because the State's decided to do it. You may not like that, that may be immoral, that may be stupid, that may not be economical, that may be dangerous, but none of that matters. So figure out what you're ...

Posted Sun, Aug 14, 11:40 p.m.

I don't know what you're talking about Cameron (nor do you). I'm not a "Democrat District Official", whatever that is. I've been in a minority quite often in my life, and owe no loyalty to any particular party.

Posted Sat, Aug 13, 9:57 p.m.

Williams didn't refuse to stand up. He stood up alone almost alone, and got tired of it. I wish he'd stayed, but disgust is a strong emotion. However, there are Dems still there and they'd better do a little standing up or we're losing it all. This isn't intellectual paralysis ...

Posted Sun, Aug 7, 1:09 p.m.

Tburley, the Seattle World's Fair had nothing to do with making Seattle a global city. Technology did, and our becoming Silicon Valley North wasn't a result of a world's fair. Yes, we have the Seattle Center as a result of that fair, and the Center is decrepit and losing money. ...

Posted Tue, Aug 2, 10:26 p.m.

Those who think we desperately need more housing (and more density) in Seattle should check into the condos still unbought in the Thornton Place development at Northgate, right next to a transit station and across from a convenient shopping center. They've sat there for at least 5 years.

Posted Tue, Aug 2, 10:20 p.m.

Bkochis, I'm not sure what you mean about designing policy around where we want the poor and the working poor to "be". Do you mean geographically? Where should they be, other than where they live now? Do you have a good idea about how to get them there? Will there ...

Posted Wed, Jul 27, 8:37 p.m.

When reality overtakes what an article says (in this case, the Council postponed their decision to August 15 and there will likely be a public vote anyway), the article should have an update paragraph at the top. For those of you who think every bus rider should pay full fare, ...

Posted Mon, Jul 25, 11:25 p.m.

They probably do live in neighborhoods, urbanredneck, but likely those neighborhoods are places like Laurelhurst or Medina.

Posted Mon, Jul 18, 9:42 p.m.

Low- and moderate-income housing could be greatly increased in Seattle with no new construction required if some of the more draconian requirements were removed from "mother-in-law" apartments. They're already part of the house; you don't have to have the considerable amount of money that's required to build a backyard cottage. ...

Posted Sun, Jul 17, 8:26 p.m.

Tong had this article recently published which quotes Sara Morris and Oki extensively and the photo credit on the article just happens to be Education for Alliance. The article makes the same points as this article. How many places is this going to be published? http://www.iexaminer.org/news/education-leaders-reexamine-strategies/

Posted Sun, Jul 17, 8:16 p.m.

Isn't there any editing on Crosscut? Bozeman "set" and watched a discussion "monitored" by Joni Balter?

Posted Thu, Jul 14, 10:45 p.m.

I was born in Salinas, and Salinas hated Steinbeck during the years he was writing because he tended to use real family names in his novels (especially East of Eden). Salinas's elites were semi-literate growers and they didn't appreciate being written about. When the Steinbeck museum was built, the purpose ...

Posted Thu, Jul 14, 3:55 p.m.

Obama's a centrist. No one who voted for him who had a working brain thought any differently. However, if I have a choice between a centrist and a Tea Party rightist (and there's no Republican "candidate" so far who isn't), I'll certainly take the centrist. I did in 2008; I ...

Posted Mon, Jul 11, 11 p.m.

Kilgoretrout, I don't know about the Scottish courts, but the US criminal justice system requires that someone be adjudged guilty by a jury "beyond a shadow of a doubt." A defendant's either guilty or innocent (on the specific count or counts the defendant's charged with). There's no middle ground. If ...

Posted Sun, Jul 10, 5:51 p.m.

Heartscribe, there are a lot of things that would be more likely to make Hubert Humphrey roll over in his grave for than the outcome of this trial. The attempted (and probably successful) dismantling of the social services system in this country, for instance. The main problem with the criminal ...

Posted Fri, Jul 8, 10:56 p.m.

BlueLight, please research the concept of "treaties". You might also look up the definition of the word "burden".

Posted Fri, Jul 8, 10:52 p.m.

But not everyone wants to sail and ski and ride a bicycle the same day, or even different days. Some of us just want to sit in the sun.

Posted Fri, Jul 8, 10:42 p.m.

Until the criminal trial system is altered, your acceptance or non-acceptance of the jury's verdict doesn't matter, TVD. There are three different issues here: the decision of a legally-impanelled jury, someone's personal feelings as a parent toward the defendant, and how the media treat these cases. Those issues aren't logically ...

Posted Mon, Jul 4, 11:01 p.m.

Bluelight, your constant comments about Indian tribes are nothing short of racist. Maybe that's why they sometimes get deleted.

Posted Wed, Jun 29, 11:17 p.m.

An employer almost always can find other reasons to fire someone who has been out sick a lot. Even someone in a "protected class" (and someone who's been sick a lot is not in a protected class) and is fired must legally prove discrimination on a "but for" basis: i.e., ...

Posted Wed, Jun 29, 10:53 a.m.

Making this a "regulation" issue is a straw-man argument, and making it an issue of small v. big business is a huge straw-man argument. This is a matter of treating employees fairly: not forcing them to either come to work sick or lose their jobs. That's the choice they currently ...

Posted Tue, Jun 28, 7:22 p.m.

Seattlelifer, in the 50s people didn't go out to eat as often; people didn't do ANYTHING outside their homes as often. Most people work now; then most women didn't work. There are many more opportunities to be exposed to sick people now. Harkening back to 60 years ago doesn't really ...

Posted Thu, Jun 23, 11:28 p.m.

Those belgian waffles were really wonderful. We all made them for parties for the next year. The Fair actually was called "The World of Tomorrow." Just remembered it when I read ErikSmith's comment. I think people my age (21) took it a lot less seriously than kids Knute's age, or ...

Posted Tue, Jun 21, 10:54 p.m.

Well, one.person, as far as making no point (rather than a point you don't agree with, here's what you said: "We are distinctly middle class and *could not afford* a decent combination of reasonable space (1500ish sqft)..". People can make their own judgment about that "reasonable space" comment. We needn't ...

Posted Mon, Jun 20, 9:33 p.m.

One.person: Your story is an example of the rise of expectations over the decades. My street is mostly composed of post-WWII houses of 800 sq ft, two bedrooms/one bathroom. They were built to house families, and they did so for many decades; some still do. That was considered to be ...

Posted Mon, Jun 20, 9:17 p.m.

Fast food workers don't get substantial--or any--tips. If a restaurant--or any business--can't afford to make a reasonable profit and still treat their workers decently, they shouldn't be in business. There's no inherent civil right for someone to run a mom-and-pop restaurant. That's the same argument that was used to protest ...

Posted Sun, Jun 19, 7:17 p.m.

Hubris, BThornton, is overconfidence. Wishing something were the case is simply...wishing.

Posted Fri, Jun 17, 11:01 p.m.

Ditto what bkochis said. There is no security when anything--art, food, whatever--relies on charity because it's dependent on the whim of the giver. That's not to say that people shouldn't give, but it is to say that income-based taxation is the only rational way to run a civilization.

Posted Thu, Jun 16, 11:47 p.m.

To call either Steve Zemke or Jay Inslee extremist would be funny if it weren't sad. If only we'd had a few more extremist/far-left Dems in the Legislature this year. If only we had a few more extremist/far-left Dems among the state electorate. If only we had more of them ...

Posted Wed, Jun 15, 11:07 p.m.

I don't know how many commenters actually went to Century 21 or were even alive then, but those who did go didn't think of it as the world of the future. It was simply a fun place to go. The monorail was rather thrilling but we didn't think of it ...

Posted Tue, Jun 14, 3:46 p.m.

He ran for Governor before as a sacrificial lamb to the issue of a state income tax. If he seriously ran, he might win.

Posted Mon, Jun 13, 9:29 p.m.

Possibly the Gates contribution to Crosscut bought some ad--uh, article space.

Posted Mon, Jun 13, 9:24 p.m.

Here's some data about just which families with children still live in Seattle: In a story on SLOG about a concert held to benefit free school lunches, SPS Director of Nutrition Services Eric Boutin said that 44% of Seattle school children qualify for free or reduced-price lunches. He said other ...

Posted Sun, Jun 12, 3:34 p.m.

As long as "single family dwelling" means two parents and kids owning their house with a yard, no one will realize how many children Seattle actually has. I don't do census figures but I'd bet that the less expensive areas of Seattle have quite a few single mothers with children. ...

Posted Wed, Jun 8, 8:29 p.m.

Why don't we simply let the Gates Foundation run the state? Then we wouldn't have to keep trotting out the tired phrase, "partner with the Gates Foundation". The Gates Foundation, being the gorilla, doesn't partner with anyone.

Posted Tue, Jun 7, 6:14 p.m.

Blue Light, your comment above is a direct cut-and-past from a comment you made in February 2010 in the Post-Globe. When are you going to actually give us the cite instead of your silly claim? I couldn't find anyoriginal statement from those "researchers".

Posted Sun, Jun 5, 4 p.m.

Half a billion dollars--although just a drop in the bucket to the resources of the Gates Foundation--could have done quite a bit in the world.

Posted Fri, Jun 3, 4:19 p.m.

There's a reason why this hospital is being built in Issaquah instead of Rainier Valley and I'm sure everyone knows it: the cadillac insurance plans (and expectations of luxury) of Issaquah residents compared to those of Rainier Valley. Hospitals which do not receive tax money don't have to provide uncompensated ...

Posted Wed, Jun 1, 8:54 p.m.

Medical centers such as the one touted don't show a community's support for the idea of healing. They show the medical corporation's marketing success. That huge cathedral ceiling wasn't built for people without insurance to enjoy. However, the Mayo Clinic certainly healed a lot more people than Lourdes did.

Posted Thu, May 26, 10:31 p.m.

I wonder why his wife didn't write this article.

Posted Mon, May 23, 9:31 a.m.

Jesus was a Jew who was executed by the Roman political structure. That much is history, as much as anything that happened in that small and unimportant outpost of the Roman empire could be history. The rest is Christian conjecture transformed into theology in non-contemporarily-written chapters of the New Testament. ...

Posted Sat, May 21, 9:52 p.m.

I'm not sure what Eleanor Owen is trying to say. She doesn't know the specifics of what is prescribed for individual Medicaid clients, since that's confidential, so she doesn't know whether they could be tapered off or not. Psychiatrists who prescribe for Medicaid clients aren't getting rich off them; reimbursement ...

Posted Fri, May 20, 8:06 p.m.

Dbreneman: I believe you were referring to the "park" at Lake City Way NE and NE 125th. I live in Lake City and have traveled past there quite often, and the only "unwelcome" behavior ever seen in that park was homeless people simply sitting on ledge of the planters (since ...

Posted Fri, May 20, 7:51 p.m.

I think you have Joanie Balter confused with Joni Balter. The latter appears on the Friday show and is definitely not a left-winger.

Posted Thu, May 19, 10:13 p.m.

Good heavens, don't obsess over the costumes. Ms. Kaderlan made it clear that it was mainly the script which was the problem, and the script still contains anti-Semitism because without it, the whole play doesn't really make sense. Which is a good reason why it shouldn't have been mounted. Ms. ...

Posted Wed, May 18, 12:09 a.m.

JRBee is correct, there are proven strategies, but they're increasingly difficult to access because there's no funding. For people who are developmentally disabled and also have psychiatric difficulties, as is the case with my daughter, there are no "appropriate" housing settings. The less-appropriate settings (either in the mental health system ...

Posted Sun, May 15, 7:40 p.m.

Cameron, why don't you contact your Congress representatives to suggest that? This was a state bill to create a single doorway into housing and services; it doesn't enable any use of federal properties. And you could ask your state representatives if the HMIS screens out illegals. It definitely would be ...

Posted Fri, May 13, 3:12 p.m.

We spend billions each month--each MONTH--in Afghanistan and Iraq, mostly in Afghanistan. That would buy a lot of Medicaid and Medicare.

Posted Sat, May 7, 9:49 p.m.

Good points, chapala, which is why we need an array of types of shelter, including more tent encampments (which are usually not located in nightclub-noise areas) and areas where people can safely and legally sleep in their vehicles. I do think the Mayor and the Council care about helping homeless ...

Posted Wed, May 4, 11:54 p.m.

These cuts and all cuts that will be made are mainly necessary because we can't raise needed revenue, which is due to 1053 passing, not 1098 failing. 1098 would have provided some money but only enough to make difficult choices possible. With 1053, we have no choices left.

Posted Sat, Apr 30, 5:31 p.m.

There are plenty of Republicans who aren't embarassed by Trump. Probably most of them aren't. If they weren't embarassed by W, why should Trump embarass them?

Posted Fri, Apr 29, 11:27 p.m.

Jordan, I live on the street with the speed bumps down from the park, and when I'm home during the day I enjoy listening to the cars smacking their various under-organs on the bump nearest me. Unfortunately, it doesn't seem to slow them down. Several blocks to the south which ...

Posted Tue, Apr 26, 12:37 a.m.

Unfortunately, DG, parking your car on the street means it's likely to get sideswiped by drivers who simply continue on their way, especially on my street which is used to avoid Lake City Way and its interminable stoplights.

Posted Fri, Apr 22, 12:34 a.m.

Do any of you have any idea what sidewalks cost? If so, do any of you have any idea of what financial situation the City is in? Connect those two dots. If you want sidewalks, take up a neighborhood collection; otherwise, just complain quietly.

Posted Tue, Apr 19, 12:35 a.m.

I can definitely understand deleting personally derogatory and/or racist comments; many sites rightly delete those type of comments (and I wish all did). But does the comment stream need to be completely shut down when that happens? (That's a real question, not a comment.)

Posted Sun, Apr 17, 9:30 p.m.

As an occasional snark-purveyor, I'm not in the least disturbed by others' snark. I wish there could be a middle ground between Crosscut's standards as outlined above by Judy and the Seattle Times' complete lack of standards. The Times' comment section will make you want to walk off into the ...

Posted Tue, Apr 12, 8:52 a.m.

Karen Lee, you're making assumptions simply based on the fact that I did learn to read. I lived in a small town. I was sent to the only school on my side of town; no one investigated whether it had good supplies and books, etc. My parents didn't know the ...

Posted Mon, Apr 11, 1:38 p.m.

A refutation of this extremely biased article: http://budgetandpolicy.org/schmudget/new-research-council-report-offers-flawed-defense-of-tax-breaks

Posted Sun, Apr 10, 4:47 p.m.

Stop with the parents thing. My parents didn't teach me to read; parents didn't do that in the 40s, because the schools did it. I wanted to learn to read so I would have regardless of what my schools did, but the point is the schools DID do it. Reading ...

Posted Sat, Apr 9, 8:02 p.m.

Here's an article from the NYT about the fact that Japan--probably the highest-tech nation in the world--used unskilled, poorly-paid contractors at its nuclear power plants. So much for nuclear power plant safety. http://www.nytimes.com/2011/04/10/world/asia/10workers.html?_r=1

Posted Sat, Apr 9, 1:32 p.m.

We have no idea whether anyone in the area of the damaged nuclear reactors has died as a result of being exposed to the results of that damage. Neither the Japanese government nor the private operator of the plant is giving us any information on illness or deaths. In the ...

Posted Thu, Apr 7, 11:23 p.m.

Medicaid also covers people with disabilities who don't qualify for Medicare. Cutting off the poor and the old won't get rid of those people. However, if you do away with Medicaid entirely, they will all eventually die, because there won't be enough hospital emergency rooms left to treat them all. ...

Posted Mon, Apr 4, 10:18 p.m.

TVD, do you really think we don't know that Rockefeller, Ford, et al. were not greedy? Do you really think we don't know that over many years you worked with many figures etc. etc.? Ye gods.

Posted Fri, Apr 1, 2 p.m.

Do all of you simply like to argue? I can't see any other reason for continuing to bloviate on what you think Seattle should do with a STATE highway. It simply confirms Seattle's main problem: the psychology of a 2-year-old.

Posted Fri, Apr 1, 1:59 p.m.

Do all of you simply like to argue? I can't see any other reason for continuing to bloviate on what you think Seattle should do with a STATE highway. It simply confirms Seattle's main problem: the psychology of a 2-year-old.

Posted Wed, Mar 30, 1:40 p.m.

What works is housing. A place to live, to keep your stuff, a home to which you can return at the end of the day, a home where you can stay if you're sick. That could be a tent in an encampment, or a shelter which doesn't have in-by-6, out-by-6 ...

Posted Mon, Mar 7, 10:44 p.m.

It's interesting that CEOs and other "responsible" corporate officers are given bonuses and golden parachutes even if their corporations tank, and yet teachers are blamed for kids' low performances on tests when the teachers are only one factor among many. Considering I'm pretty much disgusted with the WEA, I can't ...

Posted Sun, Mar 6, 11:45 a.m.

This inquity was very recently established by the Supreme Court. Taupe, look at your comment above about "In general..." and substitute African Americans for women, and see if you'd still say it.

Posted Sat, Mar 5, 11:22 p.m.

Seattle cops simply need to be made to understand, by their Chief and by the Mayor, what they can do and what they cannot do as cops. It doesn't matter where they live; it matters how they behave on the job. Seattle doesn't have "values" that Mountlake Terrace or Burien ...

Posted Fri, Mar 4, 7:27 p.m.

If you don't know one family whose kids go to public school, RRM, you only know people with money. Neither home-schooling nor private schools are possible only if a family can live on one income while the other parent home-schools, or if they can afford the private school. People who ...

Posted Wed, Mar 2, 3:03 p.m.

Taupe: If on average, men doing a particular job make at least 15% more than women doing a particular job (as numerous studies have shown is the case), do you claim that those men are doing better work than those women? You seem to indeed make that claim, since you ...

Posted Mon, Feb 28, 10:19 p.m.

As Licata said today, with a little appropriate acerbity, the only money to do anything with the Viaduct is State money, and the State will provide that money only for the DBT. You can all argue about the surface blahblahblahblah but unless you put up the money yourselves, the tunnel ...

Posted Fri, Feb 25, 7:47 p.m.

$1.8 million is not a "relatively small amount" when you're talking about public tax funds, Mr. Brewster. If the Board doesn't fire the Superintendent and publicly fall on their swords, they'd better not count on ever passing a levy again. This is sickening.

Posted Thu, Feb 24, 11:16 p.m.

It will be interesting to see what happens with the geology's "high water table" and the new taller buildings (zoning for which will no doubt be approved by the City Council) when the next quake hits. Or when the tunnel is bored. Whichever happens first.

Posted Thu, Feb 24, 11:06 p.m.

I think the word "aggressively" coupled with "police" is a bit unfortunate now. There's no good way for a communications director or whatever else you want to term that position to tell the public why cops shoot, kick, stomp, and yell racial epithets at members of the public who don't ...

Posted Tue, Feb 22, 10:19 p.m.

Is it possible to have a discussion in which the word "sustainable" is not thrown in? Apparently not, so maybe the definition should be printed everyone once in a while (like now, for instance) so it doesn't just float by the eyes without having any impact. Kind of like "paradigm" ...

Posted Sun, Feb 20, 9:08 p.m.

It's amusing to see a photo of the SLUT with this article, as a presumed example of best practices.

Posted Fri, Feb 18, 2:40 p.m.

I agree with fgruben. Carmen McRae and funk instrumentals are not my idea of jazz.

Posted Sun, Feb 13, 8:26 p.m.

It's kind of amusing that Mr. Carlson seems to feel that he must refute many of the comments made above. Most writers don't do that; they have their say in their articles, and then commenters have their say. It's as though he's not satisfied with what he said in the ...

Posted Fri, Feb 11, 8:22 p.m.

Despite a "kindly" face, Reagan was not kindly. He presided over the start of the dismantlement of the social services/justice framework that Johnson had constructed. He joked because he did not understand issues well enough to talk about them intelligently or intelligibly. Before he damaged America, he damaged my home ...

Posted Fri, Feb 11, 8 p.m.

Buster G, most of us do not need to worry about simply walking City streets, or driving City streets either. Williams was a Native American; most of us are not, nor are most of us guilty of the common crime of Driving While Black. One thing is fairly obvious from ...

Posted Fri, Feb 11, 7:49 p.m.

This piece sounds a bit like sour grapes from a disappointed suitor.

Posted Fri, Feb 11, 7:41 p.m.

I can understand why Republicans are talking about Reagan so much. He's all they've got. They're not talking about the most recent two-term Republican president because they want everyone to forget about him.

Posted Sat, Feb 5, 10:59 p.m.

The US electorate is not hysterical; if anything, we're too apathetic. However, most of what TVD says were surprises were not, and in any case we're not dealing with what "our leaders" can control. The problems in the Near East/Middle East have been mainly due to the West assuming that ...

Posted Fri, Feb 4, 10:47 p.m.

Human nature is indeed human nature, but cultures are different and they have effect on what humans expect. "Discretionary income" is quite good in Sweden compared to the US, taupe, when you consider what they don't have to pay for out of pocket. And they can depend on those things, ...

Posted Wed, Feb 2, 8:35 p.m.

The Washington State revenue system is a huge pile of post-it notes, most of which read "Taxes not owed by XXX". The pile has been accumulating for decades, and no one has looked at those post-it notes until very recently. For every break, someone has to pay more. That's constantly ...

Posted Sun, Jan 30, 12:15 p.m.

Really good article, Judy. It touches on all the elements involved in homelessness and how it impacts the community as well as homeless people themselves.

Posted Sat, Jan 29, 9:31 p.m.

Heschel also said, "A human being must be valued by how many times he was able to see the world from a new perspective." That's what our two communities need to do now, to bring us together across the gulf of recent yeas.

Posted Wed, Jan 26, 10:29 p.m.

The state will not pay $1 for anything other than the DBT. If someone wants some other than the DBT, they must come up with the money. All the money.

Posted Wed, Jan 26, 10:24 p.m.

Don't underestimate the power of the Republicans to convince idiots to vote for their candidates. Dems were shocked that Bush won again in 04; we should be wiser now, but apparently we aren't.

Posted Wed, Jan 26, 10:11 p.m.

The situation did not "spiral up." The officer shouted to Williams to put down the knife; less than 5 seconds later, he shot him dead. That was the testimony of witnesses, and the officer's car video confirms it. I doubt if officers are trained to shoot people that speedily if ...

Posted Sat, Jan 15, 1:03 p.m.

Star80, Carlyle was not incredibly condescending to you when you complained about your COLA and your workload. He paused before he answered because, I think, your rather ranting complaint seemed a bit out of place during a discussion of the cuts that are coming to health and human services. He ...

Posted Fri, Jan 14, 1:19 p.m.

Excellent article, Judy. One detail jumped out me when I combined it with another economic factor: Because one money-saving cut will involve people being released earlier from prisons, they will need housing. Yes, the state should heed that extra need, but it's difficult now to get financing for new housing ...

Posted Wed, Jan 12, 10:51 p.m.

Mr. Vogt is a "former political speechwriter." I find no reason to listen seriously to a former political speechwriter.

Posted Wed, Jan 12, 10:44 p.m.

Before we go too far villifying Arizona (which admittedly is worth harsh words), we should remember that right now an inquest is being held in the case of a Seattle police officer who within 5 seconds of telling an inebriated, partially-deaf old man to stop, shot and killed that man ...

Posted Wed, Jan 12, 7:14 p.m.

The word "assassination" isn't really appropriate. This man attempted to kill a Congressperson. He also succeeded in killing a 9-year-old girl. Is the former an attempted assassination, and the latter simply a killing? That's diminishing the crime of killing the girl, and the others who were killed. We can blame ...

Posted Tue, Jan 11, 8:11 p.m.

Fertile soil or not, he needed a gun to do it. He was able to buy the gun. That needs to be fixed. Then we can spend ten years trying to bring about a more civil discourse.

Posted Tue, Jan 11, 5:34 p.m.

What isn't being discussed is the real reason this guy was able to do what he did: he was able to buy a semi-automatic weapon. Without that weapon, a "sick brain" can't kill and wound multiple people. A more civil atmosphere wouldn't have prevented this (he was under the influence ...

Posted Sun, Dec 26, 8:18 p.m.

Nice article, but in case some readers don't realize this because Rev. Robinson doesn't mention it: David Brooks is a Jew. Judaism does not employ the concepts of sin (as in original sin) or grace or providence. Those are Christian concepts. Brooks is not an Orthodox Jew and isn't in ...

Posted Sun, Dec 26, 6:53 p.m.

Rev. Lilienstolpe: You mention Judaism in your comment. Religions per se have not been brought up in this discussion so far. Nations and their reprehensible actions are at issue. If you really want to bring Judaism as a faith into this, then you'll have to be prepared to have Christianity ...

Posted Wed, Dec 22, 9:29 p.m.

Most people DO understand that cutting Basic Health is a false economy, but it's going to happen anyway, so understanding isn't the issue. The Governor's budget is composed of a bunch of major cuts and a bunch of minor cuts. Without those minor cuts, more major cuts would be necessary. ...

Posted Mon, Dec 20, 10:47 p.m.

I was hoping to get through another week without seeing the words "war" and "Christmas" combined. Mr. Robinson, can't you celebrate Christmas without expecting, or even hoping, to see it reflected in store windows? Why would that be "awkward"? Have your tree, string your green and red lights, sing your ...

Posted Thu, Dec 16, 11:18 p.m.

Town meetings? Cut the fat? Can you people read? The election's over. The fat is cut. Now we'll be cutting food and housing and medical care.

Posted Thu, Dec 16, 2:06 p.m.

Excellent article, Judy. Just about all issues are covered and explained. Animalal, tent cities are not ineffective, unless you feel that giving people a safe place to sleep is ineffective. Referral services mean that if you suddenly found yourself homeless (which unless you are independently wealthy could happen someday), you ...