Motley Blog

Through my involvement with Hampshire College's pioneering S. African divestiture policy (first in the US - the year prior to my freshman year) I was able to attend several of the very early meetings of the trade organization, the SRI Forum.

Below is a letter to a Hampshire College Board Member, John Watts, a Texas born investment banker/lawyer. It concerns the board's selection of an investment adviser, post their divestment decision. This letter introduces my John Watts story, below.

I don't know Mr. Watts 'business' profile, but another Hampshire Board member, Gerald Levin, ended up running Time Warner for a time. Purely speculation, but presumably this guy had a hand in it, though I've no idea of the power career of this 1980's investment banker. He's perhaps best know on campus for giving a graduation speech shortly after the Reagan era fall of the Berlin wall. Quote "The wicked witch of the east, socialism, is now dead". No mention of who the wicked witch of the west was, or is, but I'd suspect he had something, or someone, in mind.

I'd been warned about Mr. Watts, presumably because of actions regarding some of the first generation divestiture activists. I only recall one conversation with him. It was about a mountain area in Northern Mexico that we had both visited. (Creel, Chihuahua - a base of Pancho Villa's and a favorite of mine).

Perhaps my big mistake was later suggesting Republican Dan Evans, former president of Evergreen, to replace the outgoing College President. Mr. Evans was a Senate Colleague of Brock Adams, a parent and also a Board Member. Speculating here, but I'd guess that Evans' quick departure from the Senate was Brock's doing (in hindsight, rightly) and Evans in Adams' career ending scandal (in my opinion likely wrongly).

I've got a theory about some of this, with some additional evidence - more current. Not sure if it all would hold up, but it is something that could be investigated.

From the 1984 April Fool's Edition of the Hampshire College paper.

In the spring of 1984 I drafted a proposal for 'alternative' business education at my school, Hampshire College. This followed up on my earlier work in the field of Socially Responsible Investing - something documented in the Hampshire College archives.

Though some of the radical folks hated me I did establish good relationships with a few board members - I have a great story about hanging out with the IBM R&D V.P. and also met Secretary of Transportation Brock Adams. But my best working relationship was with a gentleman by the name of Yerger Johnstone, a Vietnam era colonel and managing director of Venture Capital for Morgan Stanley. (He married a woman of more left leaning persuasions, assumably for love.)

The below letter is from another Board Member, the respected NY Nuclear Activist Cora Weiss, concerning a forward of that proposal from Yerger.

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Unfortunately this is an idea I didn't follow up on - lost over the summer, and the following year. Ms. Weiss's points are accurate - including competition from the Yale School of Management not too far South. Her points about individuals managing their own work do highlite an important distinction about just what actually constitutes 'business'.

Her definition of business as exploitation is unfortunately too close to the truth. My belief though is that business in a democracy is not based on corporate units but rather individuals making decisions on how to best apply their time to their own 'life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness'.

I moved to Seattle in January 1986. My first civic involvement was volunteering to help start the Broadway (Seattle) BIA, second was a group called KC 2000. (The end result of this would be the Metro/King County Merger per the Judge Zilly decision.) These KC2000 folks would be perceived as the typical regional heavy hitter crowd. FWIW the earlier, more modest endeavor, matured more sweetly in my memory.

This was the end of the Reagan era, the Fall of 1987 when George I was making his run. At that time the economy was tanking, and I used that as a theme for a promotional editorial I wrote in the UW Student Newspaper - The Daily.

Best thing about this event was the UW Students and Faculty I met - faculty included the Geographer/Demographer Richard Morrill and Transportation Engineer Scott Rutherford.

Two student footnotes: The Op-Ed was published by Sally Clark, currently a Seattle Councilmember, and perhaps the best home grown public career resume of my generation, locally.

Asterisk
Second was Tom Nolan. At the time he was doing his Master's Thesis on a proposed Computerized Mapping system for King County. Tom currently runs the City of Seattle Department, funded by City Light. This is his Master's thesis abstract/outline relevant to the local history of this profession, a topic I should continue to write on.

The handwriting should be his.

Some things never change - witness my Election Day 2004 letter to then US Attorney, John McKay:

Letter

Heyo!

I'm not a William O. Douglas scholar, so I can't really compare this book to others regarding or by this influential, Washington State born, American.

However I did find this particular collection of well introduced writings both entertaining and educational. O'Fallon takes a broad selection of his writing ranging from commentaries on the fly fishing advice of Izaak Walton to Supreme Court opinions regarding civil rights in the 1960's. His stories of growing up in the NW are also worthwhile.

Douglas was not without flaws - you could say he epitomized the cliche 'Soviet State of Washington'. You could also say he was a womanizer and I'd bet drink had an influence on his life. But he was very definitely very much a man of his times and his influence is still with us today.

Mr. O'Fallon is with the University of Oregon Law School, recognized as one of the nation's best on the subject of Environmental Law. I highly recommend this book, as well as the near Seattle William O. Douglas Wilderness.

FLOOD

By Andrew Vachss

1985

Vachss, as a writer, is a reincarnation of the a 1950's noir pulp P-I scribbler, but with a twist. His P-I, Burke, has been the subject of 17 books, most recently 'Terminal', also reviewed locally, I believe in the Times.

'Flood' is the first in the series. Floods as a metaphor carry a lot of weight with me. I'm a whitewater kayaker, by sport, and coming of age in Eugene the most dramatic moments of this California boy's NW winter were spent paddling the swollen rivers of the Coastal Range. My favorite book of all time is Eugene native Ken Kesey's 'Sometimes a Great Notion' inspired most likely by that same river. Enjoying the adrenaline rush of Grand Canyon quality whitewater with unavoidable concern for the residents of the 'flooded' homes is as memorable as one's most imprinting sexual encounters.

'Great Notion' was definitely also about sexual politics - and that is the twist that Vachss brings to his P-I books - all 17 of them deal, in some fashion, with childhood victims of sexual abuse seeking revenge. As Bogart would no doubt tell you the risks of dealing with the Femme Fatal are many - but in this case Vachss handles those twists in a manner that is both responsible and emminently entertaining. The simple moral of this story is that carrying a gun in your purse is not necessarily an unfemine thing, but I'll leave the rest to you.

Now, as to that girl who's father wrestled with Kesey in college (and whose logging family father's relationship with her mother may well have been an inspiration) - I wish I had been as good a communicator as Kesey, or Vachss, (now my number two favorite writer), when we had had a chance.

I'll leave the rest on that one to you too.

Washington State Governor Christine Gregoire recently made local headlines and national quotes with her action joining in support of California in opposition to Bush's EPA practices.

Gregoire is very good at this sort of thing, both locally and nationally - it is perhaps her strongest point. However, as religous wisdom tells us "even the devil can quote scripture for his (or her?) own purpose".

Ms. Gregoire's background is in the legal profession and she has a long track record of supporting a political 'environment' which cites very valid causes as justification for financial frauds. The typical dynamic is a male individual will object to an item of financial malfeasance only to be accused of being 'sexist' (or racist) as well as being an obvious 'bad person' with a secret agenda against the specific matter. That person will either then be silenced or fired, with a lifelong stigma attached to his name in either case.

These practices are many, the most recent of which will probably prove to be State Auditor Brian Sonntag's audit (including initiative granted performance powers) of the public Port of Seattle. The strategy can also be seen in the professionally closely related Sound Transit agency (whose CEO was a former Port CFO). Ms. Gregoire's latest on this front is to call for an 'emphatic' end to a provision called 'sub-area equity' which insures funds from one County or area are not sucked into whichever one happens to be most powerful (historically downtown Seattle).

It is in this aspect where you should be most concerned. It is assumed that the current 17 State lawsuit does, appropriately, have its eye on the emerging market for green business services. The 'business' associates of Gregoire include a firm called Preston Gates and Ellis, representing Sound Transit and a little company called Microsoft. I believe if you ask Sen. Orrin Hatch, UT, privately, about Microsoft and a former company called Novell you might well get an interesting opinion.

Although the benefits of the 17 State Coalition may well appear to be desirable the actual facts may well prove to be counter-productive. Instead of assembling political coalitions for the control of the environmental market I would urge you to instead rely on less 'powerful' influences on the private sector.

I believe Al Gore and others are calling for a 'Green' Manhattan project. I personally support this, but not for Washington State. If such an public expenditure is made, make it outside of New Orleans in a hurricane safe area. In that way the citizens of America get more bang for their buck - New Orleans is rescued - and, perhaps, are we all.

FWIW, if you wish more detail on this see the background on Gregoire's two most powerful attorney hires- Mark Sidran and Jenny Durkan. Sidran handles the financial side of the malfeasance (see the writings of Michelle Malkin and Barbara Serano in the Seattle Times regarding the Sidran, Preston Gates Ellis HUD blight parking garage for Nordstrom). Durkan, the Mary Cheneyesque lesbian daughter of the State's most powerful Lobbyist, Martin, handles the sexual side - see her 'representation' of the the too liberal, but very honest Governor Mike Lowry.

'Z'

Directed by Constantin Costa-Gravas

Starring Yves Montand and Irene Papas

1969, based on events in 1963

Some stories never change - in time or place. Roger Ebert makes a similar comment in his 1969 review of this movie, the first foreign film ever nominated for Best Picture at the Oscars.

The plot concerns the May 1963 assassination of the Greek leftist, Grigoris Lambrakis, as well as the successful investigation, and the subsequent military and political consequences. As even the most casual observer of history will note this was only some six months prior to the murder of the first Kennedy.

The actual date of the assasination got my attention, though I won't say why. For trivia buffs it was also the date of the first American ascent of Everest, via the West Ridge - by Washington's own Whitaker, if I recall correctly.

The below piece was originally submitted for publication outside of Tacoma, but not accepted. As of today, January 19 it is slightly dated - for instance the refered alcohol impact area has unanimously passed the Tacoma City Council and has been sent to the State for action. This effort is profiled in a lead story in the TNT, January 18th.

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Tacoma, in recent history, has had the reputation of being a second class City – growing slowly in the dark shadow of its more prosperous, and influential, neighbor to the North, Seattle. And this was not totally without justification. Tacoma’s Ruston Smelter spewed a plume of arsenic for decades creating a superfund site where the cleanup is just now finishing. The old joke about Tacoma was ‘Kiss me where it smells, take me to Tacoma” – due the once common NW odor of a pulp mill, the source being the Simpson Mill located on the now revitalizing historic Foss Waterway.

Part of that bad ‘reputation’ was in part through negative attitudes towards servicemen in the Vietnam era, locally articulated against members of the nearby Fort Lewis ‘community’. Those attitudes, and the resulting standards and procedures, are changing. Hopefully as Iraq combatants return they will find a City that welcomes their energy and drive. Tacoma will still have a large ‘transient’ military population, but that is not so bad as it might appear in High School statistics and the like. Having an Iraqi veteran as your next door neighbor could be a very good thing.

The revitalization of Downtown Tacoma has been incredible, and if you have not visited in the last few years you are truly missing one of the cultural hot spots of the State. Tacoma native Dale Chihuly gave a major gift to his hometown in building his Glass Museum, also overlooking the Foss. This same area is host to a more general arts museum, the State History Museum, and the University of Washington Branch campus, as well as a new convention center and a not bad Chihuly display in the renovated Union Station, now serving duty as our Federal Courthouse.

Downtown developers have been focusing on creating an urban alternative to Downtown Seattle – most of the Condos in downtown are not for the first time buyer – but just about every second home purchaser could afford them. The stock of historic buildings in Tacoma may well be greater than in Seattle proper – and the new projects being built are well designed to fit the history.

This revitalization has had considerable State and Federal money, no doubt in part due the seniority and moderate politics of Norm Dicks. The important fact about this public money is it appears to be working – unlike the failed urban revitalization programs of the 1970s money here has been spent smartly – first on the list being the UW Tacoma Branch, but also on the Tacoma Narrows Bridge and a major rebuild of I-5 through downtown, now about 50% complete.
With some controversy money has also been ‘given’ to the private sector in the form of tax breaks for development in strategic areas. Some might attribute this as ‘corporate welfare’ when they benefit the already well off. Time will tell if Tacoma’s efforts were a wise investment, or not. But so far, so good.

The Hilltop neighborhood once ruled by gangs has been the beneficiary of much of the public money. This area is still at risk, but it has changed considerably and living on its fringes is a very good bet. Most significantly the Sixth Avenue Corridor – stretching from Wright Park at the North end of Hilltop west towards the Narrows Bridge has revitalized itself incredibly in just the last year, and mostly with private money. It’s geographical position just to the south of the Proctor District and other historically affluent North End neighborhoods has perhaps made it the neighborhood of choice.

There are a lot of bars on Sixth – giving it a bit of a Ballard feel from the 1980s, but as a district located near the Tacoma Community College and University of Puget Sound, as well as being within easy Commuting distance of UW-T it works well as what it is.

At the other end of Downtown, towards the historically poor and transient military neighborhoods of South and East Tacoma the first rumblings of this economic momentum are being felt. This is my neighborhood, of the last four years. This article is my attempt to convey what I see is happening, as well as to assist in the area realizing its potential.

South Tacoma is perhaps the best deal in housing in Western Washington right now. For 200k you can buy a house comparable to a Wallingford bungalow. This is a price point that entry level home buyers can afford, even in today’s market. Sure, the plumbing or the electrical might need some work and the finish carpentry could stand some paint – but that’s part of being a first time homeowner – part of life.

The commute back north is doable, but rush hour starts early and ends late on all northbound commutes in Pierce County, as well as South King. The Sounder train though has made that commute enjoyable, if you are so lucky to work in an area it accesses.

The current southern terminus for the Sounder is at a funky little development called Freighthouse Square – comparable to Crossroads in Bellevue, or perhaps the old Fifth Street Public Market in Eugene. It is a ‘3rd place’ not a mall, built in the old rail freight depot for Tacoma. It’s in the Dome District, (we didn’t tear ours down), just at the Southern end of the Foss Waterway. It’s a funky mixture of old industrial and new retail and commercial now just coming into its own . It’s future seems to be comparable to that of the Pearl District in Portland, much like what has been attempted in the SODO area of Seattle, that somehow has never quite been realized, for some reason.

The Dome District has also seen quite a bit of public money lately, mostly transit related. Freighthouse Square is the Sounder station, and across the street is a (6 story) park and ride serving a local and regional bus hub. The Tacoma Light Rail, currently the only functioning element of Sound Transit’s Link project, starts between these two buildings, running north through Downtown to near 6th Avenue in the Theatre District.

The Sounder is planned to continue south to Lakewood – but the crossing of Pacific Avenue has become a major design issue. The small and medium sized businesses of the Dome District felt overlooked, if not bullied, by Sound Transit in this issue, the first ‘appearance’ of that ‘organization’ since their November Prop. 1 defeat. The question seems to have been resolved with the leadership of the Tacoma City Council. The ‘solution’ though has required the relocation of Tacoma’s oldest business, the Star Ice Company.

The first Tacoma residents I met were actually Sound Transit officials – perhaps most notably former City Councilmember Paul Miller and current State Commissioner of Public Lands Doug Southerland. Pacific Avenue, Highway 7, was however my first exposure to Tacoma. Looking at a map highway 7 looks to be the best way to get to the southern entrance and the Paradise area. One however is quickly disillusioned –seeking the solace of green one only finds hundreds of blocks of stop lights and commercial development of varying levels of upkeep – comparable to Hwy 99 north or south of Seattle.

Pacific Avenue as it leaves Downtown Tacoma is no exception. The road is slow and most of the businesses aren’t driver oriented. Currently the best route from the Dome District, and Downtown, is via McKinley Avenue, an I-5 overpass right next to the Tacoma Dome. McKinley Avenue climbs up McKinley Hill to its small neighborhood business district, itself just starting to revitalize, also home to Tacoma’s only dog park. Two dog park regulars have started that areas first coffeeshop, opening any day now. Although health regulations prohibit a dog friendly coffee hangout, the opening of this neighborhood coffeeshop is anticipated by many.

Just to the West , across Pacific, is my neighborhood, Lincoln, also home to the High School of the same name. The two neighborhoods make up what I’ve been calling ‘Presidents Ridge’ – a great area just above Downtown Tacoma with the potential to be a Ballard with a view, er, Admiral District. 34th Avenue is the small arterial connecting these areas and it makes a great view walk of about a mile or so, one way. There are two historic bridges over beautiful ravines in this area. The head of one of these has just been sold by the City of Tacoma to a Downtown Developer, Prium.

This Pacific Prium project has many in the neighborhoods of the South End concerned. Although District City Councilman Rick Talbert claims the housing to be developed will be for ‘firefighters and teachers’ the enabling council resolution which authorized the sale agreement is written to specifically suggest it is replacement housing for the very low income residents of the downtown’s Winthrop hotel. Somebody is lying to someone here, and I feel a bit guilty hoping that it is the housing activists, and not the neighborhoods.

The impact of 100-200 units of affordable housing raises the spectre of the blighted housing project, whatever the subsidized income level. Our neighborhood fears that this may mean downtown is looking at the South End not for revitalization, but as a ‘redlined’ neighborhood to milk as a low-income cash cow. Lincoln High School currently is gang free and we’d like to keep it that way – understanding that the risks of breeding gangs in newer style housing developments is less, it has also not been completely eliminated. The wisdom of placing younger children across the street from the County drunk tank and the methadone clinic also seems a bit unwise.

Most likely the answer will be determined by market forces – Prium is a local developer of high standing but they are having their own housing related financial problems right now – converting one condo project to rentals after failing to sell a single unit at their targeted price. Market savvy folks are betting that the results will depend on how much of a bailout Prium needs – not a bad financial hedge for a good company, all else being kosher.

Personally, I’m hoping for a mix of private and subsidized housing. Seattle is currently discussing the provision of density subsidies in exchange for the inclusion of affordable units – a good strategy. Central to this debate is the question of just how much of a mix can work. Though not directly applicable the desired mix in a privately funded project should also apply to a publically funded one. The maximum any city is doing in this generation of project is 35% - total, moderate income and for the very low.

Perhaps more potential is brewing in the next ravine to the east in that Dome Greenbelt. This is the route by which Hwy 705 climbs to reach Hwy 7 when you are heading South. It is also the alignment for a rail corridor owned by Tacoma Rail which stretches all the way to Elbe via Eatonville.

Just two weeks ago an Interior Department funded multi-jurisdictional study (Norm Dicks is currently chair of the Interior Committee) was released regarding the use of this corridor for Rail/Trail purposes. Unlike King County’s Eastside rail line this multiple use is being seriously, and professionally, studied – NOT decided by dysfunctional partisan political considerations.

Personally I’ve found that idea to be very timely – as I’ve been talking up the idea of a trail as well – not for the rail corridor, but for the Dome Greenbelt – built just above the I-5 soundwall, like the one on Seattle’s Capitol Hill (the BEST place to watch Fourth of July Fireworks shows). We’ll see if the kismet works, I hope you don’t mind the personal plug.

This trail would stretch all the way from the existing trail in McKinley Park to the pedestrian bridge at 38th, near the Tacoma Mall. That western end is the Whitman neighborhood, named after the Walla Walla poet. The proposal is articulated graphically here.

Pat McGregor is the President of the Whitman neighbors, a teacher at Puyallup’s Leschi school. He is perhaps the South End’s most effective leader – largely responsible for the expansion of Downtown’s ‘Alcohol Impact Area’ , scheduled for January adoption. Removing fortified products from store shelves isn’t the cure for all of alcohol’s ills, but it does seem to have some effect – as in Pioneer Square and elsewhere.

Our area certainly has customers for fortified alcoholic drinks – our freeway greenspaces have become homes for the homeless – in one case a nearby encampment was probably well over 100 individuals. These ‘customers’, along with the stereotypical meth addict scravenger regularly use our alleys as travel routes. Thankfully public safety is one issue that everyone agrees on, and efforts in this regard are just starting to build the foundations of solid neighborhood organizations.

Tacoma is building itself a new reputation these days – lets hope it becomes a City where folks who work hard can get ahead – and where everyone can afford a downtown condo once the kids leave. There are risks that the parasites who feed off the poor will attempt to expand their presence here, but I am optimistic. All life is risk, and preserving the history of a City like Tacoma is, in my opinion, a good bet.

Tacoma was once the business center for the State. The history, as I understand was that Tacoma received the first rail line, Everett the second – they joined up in Seattle, which, perhaps due the benefits of competition, became the number one City.

The current word for Tacoma is ‘gritty’. Like the nation’s second City, Chicago, Tacoma is a city of people who work for a living, who earn it. The ridge of the south end may well become the geographical ‘broad shoulders’ of the City – after all a ‘good’ economy is one that benefits everyone, no?

I'vr got a pet peeve about current elections regulations in Washington State - I thought I might be the only one, but Dori Monson, a talk show host on the top-rated centrist radio station KIRO 710, covered the subject yesterday, or at least got close to it. (Dori is the centrist station's right winger, though he claims to be more of a Libertarian.)

As you know Washington regulations concerning primaries have been the subject of recent Supreme Court Decisions and Initiatives - currently you are required to be a member of a party to participate in the primary decision. I have no problem with that, but as is usual with bureaucracy the devil is in the details.

The problem is this - County Auditors (except King County, go figure) are required to throw out any vote which is independent - either by a cross-over vote between parties or from one choosing not to identify. It's codified in 29A.52.151.

My initial thought that was this must have been some sort of administrative mis-step - perhaps with some degree of intentionality - I did a public records request to State Secretary Sam Reed's office on the subject. I found out I was wrong - one of the female people I correspondend with was kind of insulting and/or threatening when I made the insinuation that the First Ammendment would require tabulating of my vote - regardless if the parties used it or not.

FWIW, I'm a tad disappointed that Reed hasn't already sought to correct what may have been a constitutional oversight - his failure to act does go to his performance in that office. He does seem otherwise capable in his duties and I did vote for him last time around, even though I lean a shade left. I'm still researching the orignal bill that made these modifications but I do gather that Mary Margaret Haugen, someone I respected previously, but has had some suspect actions this year - including apparently supporting the powers that be around the Port of Seattle.

Go Figure.

The Monson/Reed interview, live, is at the start of this audio. Caller comments follow. The only other published reference on the subject that I'm aware of was cited by Dori on his page, from the Whidbey paper.

If your interest in this is great enough to want to see the emails from my PDC request I'd look forward to meeting you, as well as responding to your request.

Oh yeah, the lie thing - which Monson went into - you have to make an oath of party affiliation to vote in a primary. My point is that you should be able to vote independent or cross over in a single race and have the vote reported, but not applied to the Party decision. As it stands for the Presidential Race I think I'm gonna participate in the Republican Caucus and also vote in the completely non-counting Democratic Primary on the 19th.

This law needs to be repealed - it shouldn't require a court case or a big political battle. It is the constitution, arguably the most important part of it - all it should take is a single person pointing out the problem, nothing more - or less.

While you are at it - a suggestion - how about creating primary rules for independents whereby anyone can vote for them - independent or crossover - and allow them to advance if they receive one of the top two positions?

Heyo!

Family law is a subject that makes the press regularly these days - it may be gay marriage, domestic violence, or even tax policy. Here, I will argue that perhaps the 'law' does not belong in family situations at all.

I'll illustrate this position by going a bit to the extreme - the answer, which I don't have - is somewhere in the middle. The only thing I will claim is that the current system is broken and to have a sense of the direction in which we should head. Even that direction is subject to debate - something I would consider a success I was to spark such here.

The law as it applies to families is broken. Law makes more problems than it solves in this arena. One could make the case that this is intentional. I will not do that here, but will note that the same question could also be asked in felony arenas as well. Certainly though there have been cases where misapplied family law has actually sparked felonies. These are tragedies to prevent, not merely falling back on a procedure by which the legal system can claim to avoid responsibility.

I believe that the debate over gay marriange and/or civil unions shows us the way to the solution. Marriage is not a matter for the State and the Law to regulate - it is a matter of religious preference and Churches should have the 'authority' over this societal institution.

Religion is a matter of choice - that choice might be a very traditional Catholic, Jewish, or Native American institution. The church choice though could also be something innovative - fo example, a gay embracing offshoot of an established religion, or even something born anew - say the 'Church of Spouse Swappers' - if that was what 'you' wanted.

There are some issues which should be guaranteed by the State - dissolution from a documented abusive relationship would be one, support for a non-working spouse should be another. The rights of 'civil unions' as negotiated by gay activists are probably pretty close to what heterosexual couples deserve as well. No more, no less.

The issue of children in marriage is another area of State involvement - perhaps no more so neglected than in the area of tax policy, even in homosexual discussions. It is my opinion that there are some tax benefits accruing to couples which are, in part, justified on the assumption that Children are present. I would argue that we should be taxing marrieds, without children, at a higher rate and married, with children, at a lower rate. I'm also dubious about assigning retirement benefits to a non-working spouse when there are no children present in the relationship at that particular time. This, if you will, is a functionally 'progressive' tax position.

The resolution of problem marriages should then fall to the 'authority' of each church - forget restraining orders and the like, but do give the Churches some powers in this area - especially in the area of creating a record of evidence documenting a deteriorating relationship.

I'd also go so far as to give the Churches authority to be insurance providers - divorce insurance would be one product, but I see no reason why Churches couldn't be providers of just about any form of the product. The resulting rates,and actuarial tables, cross tabulated by religion, would be a piece of societally relevant 'economic' information.

Lastly, one potential problem - that of a couple who choose to marry but are of different 'traditional' faiths. That too is a matter for the law, allowing those individuals choices in how to handle the situation - say allowing one spouse to accept the marriage standards of another religion without joining it, per se.

I think the best answer to that potential problem is the idea of pre-nuptial agreements. Church marriages could be considered a standard 'pre-nuptial' aggreement concerning the marriage. Individuals would have the opportunity of drafting their own agreements, including modifications of Church practices, if acceptable to that Church.

Does the law belong in the 'regulation' of drugs in society?

Anthropologists have studied the question of drug use in a wide variety of societies, including those that utilize psychedelics. The generally accepted wisdom, correct me if I'm wrong or out of date, is that societies who have older individuals as mentors for younger users are generally healthy and avoid many of the problems of drug abuse. The role of the native 'medicine man' is perhaps the easiest way to understand this position, at least from my lay perspective.

Certainly drug use can be a contributing factor in crime. Here in Pierce County the current stereotypical problem is the unemployable meth addict looking for income to support drug use in the mix of his or her life's priorities. Not so long ago, and still with us to some extent, would be the similar, but manifestly different, heroin junkie.

The biggest societal problem in this regard though is alcohol and violent crime. In history the provision of alcohol as a reward to fighting troops provided a benefit to the commander - a more aggressive fighter, once the hangover wore off. (not a bad timing factor in the conduct of battle either) The history of marijuana use during the Vietnam era in this regard probably merits continuing historical review (marijuana probably lowers the fighting ability of soldiers).

The trend towards medical marijuana, including in California, federal efforts opposing not withstanding is, I believe, the way to go. And not just for marijuana, but for every drug, including alcohol. Our society has 'medicine men' - they are called medical doctors and they have extensive scientifically founded training as well as strong requirements for social capability manifested as 'bedside manner'.

My thought is that alcohol purchases should be regulated - via the medical profession. The 'administrative' way to do this is something that we should be doing regardless of medical oversight. If you look at the back of your Washington State driver's license it has a barcode. It is merely a minor software problem to require the scanning of this barcode with any alcohol purchase. The benefit of preventing sales to minors alone would justify this wise implementation of technology.

Privacy protections on this information should be high - standards in this age that need review - especially in light of current abuses, including within the legal profession itself. Judgement in the use of this information should also be high. Laws should not be so strict that a person is prevented from hosting a private party without being called an alcoholic. There is nothing wrong with a determined person being able to find small workarounds as a price of protecting liberty for us all. Those workarounds though will require a social network, and those sorts of networks will develop their other problems as well - another case for a law enforcement professional with good judgement.

The availability of alcohol purchase records will also be a useful tool for the law enforcement investigator in the course of sorting through persons of interest and conflicting statements.

I'd argue that all products with psychological effects be regulated to some extent - including stimulants such as caffeine and relaxants. I'm not going to say those products require a bar code scan or age restrictions but their management in that context is definitely appropriate.

I do think psychedelics should be medically regulated products as well, but their use should be among the most difficult.

In my opinion one of the ways to understand a drug is how often you can use it before problems start to appear. Alcohol can be used relatively frequently by some without major problems, even daily in smaller doses. ( I would argue though that this is medically undesirable.) 1-2 cups of Coffee a day is nothing to be concerned about at all, though that too might have minor medical disadvantages. 'Desirable' alcohol use is probably in the area of 3-4 total drinks per week.

Marijuana on a daily, or even weekly, basis does become a dangerous drug. Airplane pilots are regulated on the use of alcohol for a nearly a day prior to flight, as I recall. I would argue those same time frame constraints be placed on anyone in a position of responsibility. In the case of marijuana a time frame from use to work, such as with a truck driver, should be on the order of a week. (that's a lay guess, not scientific or medical judgement) I'd also guess that desirable use of Marijuana is on the order of once a month or so, though it would probably be okay if that was an annual average whereby use was concentrated during a summer vacation or the like.

Psychedelics should most likely be used the most infrequently - as a guesstimate I'd say once a year, maybe twice. Higher frequency use might be okay, but again in the context of annual use as an average, with these drugs though that should be spread out over the course of a lifetime.

Although the emergence of universal insurance may make this moot, it still merits mention as a part of the current conversation on insurance. Making medical insurance a requirement for any drug 'use', including alcohol, would do much to encourage the purchase of that product among groups that are both higher medical risk and less likely to act prudently. The resulting actuarial tables should be a core part of the drug discussion, as well as violent and property crime statistics resulting from relatively more accurate data. FWIW I'd bet there are a fair amount of problem alcohol users trying to scapegoat the marijuana users for some of there own 'problems'.

Lastly, a personal observation. If I am so lucky to die in bed, doing so being stoned during my last days might well not be a bad way to go. Call that a living will, if you wish.

The post-affair resignation of the 46 year old married Federal Way Judge Colleen Hartl received wide coverage. Many of the gritty details have just been released in a cover story by the Tacoma Tribune, last Saturday.

Judge Michael Morgan had attemped several times over the seven month career of Hartl to encourage her to act responsibly. In response to these 'legal' calls for accountability Hartly responded by accusing Morgan of "Workplace Domestic Violence" in an email to the Federal Way Police Chief.

This certainly gives a new dimension to the practice of 'sleeping one's way to the top' - and perhaps to the relationship with Hartl's lawyer husband as well.

It is shameful that the legal profession gives harrassment gossip full weight before the bench - the degeneracy of this practice is perhaps best revealed by this case.

My question here though is why in the world are we paying this lawless trailer trash more than $125,000 a year? That's more than any elected state-wide official save the AG and the Gov. Perhaps it is because the lawyers threaten the other two branches of government with 'workplace domestic violence' if they don't cough up?

Now, just where would one take such an allegation - if the Court's, and their officers, are complicit in the problem?

That's a tough question, but let's hope that Judge Michael Morgan will continue to be part of the solution. He is certainly worthy of his compensation, he just earned several years of it.

Besides the major dailies and broadcast TV this story has been covered, and discussed, on the below list:

Federal Way News

Normandy Park Blog (South King County, Washington Suburb)

Above the Law

Police Crimes

(The TNT has a policy of archiving articles into paid status after a few weeks.)

Dean Logan, controversial former elections director at problem plagued King County, is now lead of L.A. elections and continues his press presence today.

This story concerns an issue of mine - the ability of non major party members to express their preferences in the primary process. The issue here appears to be voter confusion. Though the details are not clear in the article it does appear that Logan is trying to make improvements. Although I'm a bit sceptical about his learning these lessons at his level of status he does seem to be trying.

This contrasts with Secretary of State Sam's Reeds actions on the same issue. Reed does have the ability, but he isn't trying to apply same to the problem with integrity. The forthcoming 10 million dollar primary vote on February 19 seems to be 'fair' including both Democrats and Republicans. In reality though it is slap in the face of every Washington Citizen - considering the recent history of primary election law in this State.

As you probably know the Democrats don't even use the primary at all - it is merely a straw ballot. So why can't Independents and Cross-overs express their preferences as well? In addition why aren't smaller parties, including the Greens and Libertarians allowed access to the primary ballot?

I'm not opposed to the parties restricting participation in decision making, however restricting the expression of free speech is a constitutional crime - though perhaps only currently prosecutable through harrassment law!

I won't recall the full history of primary elections here - the solution stands on its own. For both local and national primaries all parties should be allowed access and all votes tabulated and reported, whether the parties use them or not. The 'Top Two' preference of voters, invalidated by court order, should be re-invented as the top two different party winners.

Included in those eligible for top two advancement should be a special category of unafilliated independent (small i). As there is no 'party' for this group, any one should be allowed to vote a counting vote for this candidate.

Advancement wouldn't need to happen very often to have a big effect - including on lazy corrupt old Republicans like Reed and young unqualified and manipulated Democrats like Logan. As it stands now we ALL lose, whomever wins.

Use 'harrassment' law on me for that 'negative' campaigning. PLEASE, go ahead punks, MAKE MY DAY.

Perhaps the most iconic of shared memories in Western Washington is the blossoming of the Cherry Trees in the Arts and Sciences quad at the University of Washington, on a rare sunny day.

On this partly cloudy Valentine's day I'd like to direct your attention to the 'performance' of the University of Washington as a place to start healthy relationships. An occassional drunken frat boy/sorority girl fuck isn't necessarily a bad thing - if it teaches you, by example, what to avoid. Building a lifetime relationship from the continuation of such an encounter does not a healthy region make.

But I'm not here to bash Frat row, nor even the ignored domestic violence violations of starFootball players under Rick Neuheisel.

Rather, consider the case of the murdered staff member Rebecca Griego. Ms. Griego had a restraining order against her killer and those procedures have been strengthened in this year's Legislative session.

But perhaps those measures are actually making the situation worse? Certainly there have been cases where accusations of harrassment are actually the abuse. I can not speak to the Griego case, but I know in my own UW experience that the academics and some of their professional support staff can definitely abuse these politically correct 'procedures'. My case involved being accused of same in retaliation for placing complaints through established legal 'channels' and nothing more.

My rhetorical question for you therefore is whether the UW has, perhaps, continued the cycle of abuse in it's 'attempts' to protect deserving victims of abusive relationships. Is the 'due process' of UW criminally abusive itself? Is the 'authority' of this institution no better than the penis and pry bar of Ted Bundy (**perhaps** an outcast from his better bred UW Law School female cohorts - including some of those now in authority in this State?). Is the UW Police Department anything better than the violent 'tool' (dildo) of a man hating lesbian, perhaps brought into the school through title IX? Is it possible that Rebecca Griego died because of the way the UW, as a culture, addresses these matters, rather than in spite of them?

I don't know. Personally I'd rather keep my distance from such situations. Heck, they might even have accused me of harrassment if I'd bothered to testify in Olympia on those bills.

On the positive side, Fred Jarrett has a bill, 2641 that might actually help in the matter. This bill addresses measures of performance at our higher education instititutions - consistent with I-900 and Brian Sonntag's authority. This matter doesn't address domestic violence, but regardless, an accountable 'culture' will help to reduce such problems FOR EVERYONE.

Just my thoughts, take them as you will. As to my case though, that is definitely still a matter of concern.

The Duke Lacrosse Player suit has now been filed:

Durham Herald Sun, 2/21/2008

Current common wisdom is that Prosecutor Nifong was motivated in his criminal actions by a desire to politically grandstand with minority communities in that diverse North Carolina community - at the expense of the Duke students.

My question for you is this - was this really an isolated case or a case of a community of integrity stepping up to combat an emerging standard practice of corruption in public law?

Those of you who know my story will know the answer is the latter.

This case is not an isolated one - it is the mere tip of the iceberg - and the hidden remainder is the shame, and culpability, of every member of the practice of law in this Constitutionally based Country.

My local paper, the Tacoma News Tribune, has an editorial on Open Government in this Sunday's edition. This is an editorial series of 12 this year celebrating the paper's 125th anniversary. This theme is also an important one within the remainder of the State, including the Seattle Times, which initiated the Coaliton on Open Government.

As the paper notes:

Advancing the cause of open government is a value, not a business model.

On a similar note the paper hosted a great forum last week on the role of newspapers in connecting with their community in the internet age. Panelists included Michael Fancher of the Seattle Times, David Brewster of the Seattle Weekly/Crosscut, Jack Hart of the Oregonian and two academics. This session was not about business either, however anyone who follows the business knows that the emergence of internet agebusiness models is a current major subject.

I don't have an answer to those related business questions, but I do have some thoughts.

An honest and transparent government may not a business make - however a dedication to same should be a goal of every business whatever their level of operation. As it is a paper's responsibility to advance same it should be a businesses 'responsibility' to support same.

But 'business' is not a monolith - it is merely a name assigned to a collection of very independently minded entities, at least in theory. Up north the Greater Seattle Chamber of Commerce led by the two big public finance firms, Foster Pepper Sheffelman and Preston Gates might disagree. In practice 'business' to them needs to stand together - both those who serve government (including, first, themselves) and those who work in a more traditional 'free market' sense.

Advertising in the ivory tower theories of Adam Smith is a double edged sword complicating what is otherwise so ideologically simple and clear. On the one hand for markets to be truly 'free' everyone must have access to all information. Advertising is the way to do exchange information, however it is very definitely NOT free.

As such advertising can actually be used to monopolize, to use the word loosely, the attention of the consumer.

Contrary to the opinion of the TNT I'm gonna put forth an idea here - that open competition AND open government SHOULD be the foundation for the next communications business model.

The foundation of such should not be traditional advertising, but rather the yellow page business model, a business which should be transferred from the telcos to newspapers. (or to the telcos, if they establish news organizations with integrity and credibility) This would mean that the advertising basis of every paper should be as broad as that of the historical yellow pages.

I'm imagining a situation where every subscriber continues to pay as well - however with greater revenue accruing to the paper through reduced printing costs. Curling up with a paper is not a bad habit, but it does also have big environmental costs as well.

Rates for inclusion by a business should definitely be higher, but for the smallest business perhaps no more than the differential between a private phone line and a business line. Rates should differ, and setting up an industry by industry pricing structure is the tough part of this idea, as well as is the issue of preferred placement. Google offers one example of how this might be dealt with appropriately.

Newspapers should also give high priority treatment to some businesses NOT based on how much they pay. Rather the paper should establish methods of evaluating businesses of integrity and credibility based on the evaluations of their subscribers.

Put simply this is a business model whereby the local paper becomes more of a trusted broker of information rather than solely a producer of it.

I don't know if this translates to the national market or not. FWIW, Google may already 'own' that market, deservedly. I don't think though that the Google model extends automatically to the local level.

The full feature TNT editorial is here.

Starting this blog was a secondary goal when I began a complete remodel of my house 10 months ago. That project is finishing off this week and the money is running out. As such it is time to shift my focus on getting back to work.

The original plan was to sell and do some serious international hiking, continuing to focus on health. The market in Tacoma has softened a touch, and as such, a worthwhile profit for roughly six months of full time work would not be realized.

This is also a good time to go a bit quieter. I've had the opportunity to start a civic network here in Tacoma. My specialty is helping to frame the questions, then stepping aside to let others answer them. Both the State and National election issues are at this point, Hillary's future may in fact be decided today.

I haven't had the opportunity to restart my old connections in Seattle, and FWIW, my job search will be focused on Pierce County, though with a bit of South King where I've worked for the last five years or so.

It is also time to start filing some complaints about some of the personal stories I've touched on in these posts. The biggest question - and perhaps the core of my first claims, would be a denial of recourse for my concerns. Throwing people in jail for 'obstructing' a police officer is one thing - throwing someone in jail for insisting that the public's monies be spent responsibly is quite another.

The folks benefiting from that process, the officers of the the Seattle Superior Court, have done quite the job at building a story totally destroying my personal reputation. It is my belief that not only will a detailed look at these stories will reveal not the story of my personal decay but the decay of the most important center of this industry in Washington State.

In King County the biggest result of my developing a business relationship is to bring these hate mongerers to the door of my employer or contractor. Hopefully I can either prevent that in Pierce County or make the fighting of it my job - perhaps even in King County.

The Tacoma News Tribune makes it possible for any reader to attend both an editorial board and a news meeting. After four years in the City I'm now making my first civic rounds, and made stops at both of these meetings in the last day.

Definitely two thumbs up for both sides of that storied operation. As Pierce County's only major news operation(save perhaps the Fort Lewis Ranger), they are more stable than most dailies in this Country. They also have great staff - including the Security Guard in the Chihuly decorated lobby.

I haven't thought about Journalism as a career seriously, save perhaps for some freelancing, but I do think I'`ll add their listings to my online reading list...

If my calendar is correct the UW Regents will be in Tacoma tomorrow.

FYI, as the evidence and their own law indicates, these folks are legally and morally bankrupt, though, unfortunately, not financially so.

No details today, but, FWIW, all I have to is show up tomorrow and and not say a word and your entire credibility will be destroyed as well as that of your associates. That includes your son, Mr. Gates.

Of course it had already happened 15 years ago - even before I attended a meeting of yours quietly, hanging out with David Brewster.

Again, per your law and your actions, just how do you pay back for 15 years of good living when everything should have been taken from you then and you have nothing now, nor will you ever again?

How about you show some responsibility for once and dedicate your genetically defective bodies to science? That would do it for me.

I do realize that you have supporters, and certainly I'll listen to any of them with credibility, but do be aware that anyone who identifies support for you also runs the risk of being accused of conspiracy.

You are, not by my actions but your own, Scum. Scum multiple orders of magnitude worse than a recently released sexual predator. I'll give you one notch over Hitler, at least to date.

If you wish, you can probably kill me to defend yourself. As Clint Eastwood might say to a younger, less dangerous, punk, MAKE MY DAY.

The story of the OK Boys Ranch, in Thurston County is an old one. It is a story that we, as a State, never fully dealt with. Given Christine Gregoire's support of a contempary in her profession, a Thurston County Judge who validated some of these disgusting practices it is again timely. I also believe a second look is merited as the complexities, and dangers, of accusations of sexual abuse have become more apparent to everyone.

Thurston County resident Larry Bloom is the archivist on this issue and he has much of the material here:

http://lbloom.net/okbr.html

There is also an expert consultant on these sorts of issues who comments on the accuracy of Mr. Bloom's history.

You've got to dig a bit to find the worst of these stories - my understanding of the situation is that the OK Boy's ranch, a home for juvenile problem males, was used as storehouse of sexual victims for the benefit of well connected donors and staff- most notably including, allegedly, the Olympia Kiwanis Club. Though the club was eventually shut down a Thurston County Judge 'okayed' the practice and Gregoire supported her actions, in the interim.

I guess it's not okay to kill prostitutes, but raping young white males is fine, right Christine - just so long as you call them 'problems'?

Maybe, Christine, just maybe it's you, and your legal contemparies who are the 'problem'? Maybe, Christine, maybe it was one of your contemparies abuses that actually drove law student Ted Bundy, born in Tacoma, crazy?

This is a picture of me from early spring, 1985. Like the recent Evergreen riots in Olympia a party resulted in some anti-police action. In this case a cruiser didn't get rolled and burned, rather just 'keyed' - scratching a paint job with a set of keys.

Standing next to me is John B. Mitchell, a great friend.

In hindsight, I have to wonder if the on-campus, unarmed, security force blamed me for that. Not the case, though I was certainly known to play a prank or two.

This posting marks the start of some biographical and portfolio items - these will be filed by original date, so won't show up on the home page. They all can be accessed easily from the Biography/Portfolio Category page.

Quoting oneself can be a dangerous vanity, that risk though I leave to you dear reader, to assess.

I went to an Economics lecture a few weeks ago. Arthur Laffler, a big Chicago School Supply Sider from the Reagan Administration gave a well publicized speech at PLU. This was my first time to visit this school - a beautiful campus tucked away just South of the Tacoma City limits.

The event was well attended. I though didn't know a soul, save recognizing Dave Muri, from the Pierce County Council.

I like to make it my signature to ask a memorable question, and I felt doubly pressured to come up with something for this event, especially as I kind of missed the target by a shade, in commenting in the News Tribune.

Pardon the vanity, but I do think I nailed it.

My question:

Mr. Laffler, you talk of reduced taxes increasing the incentive to produce, but what about the incentive for a corporate executive to give themselves bonuses they didn't earn, such as at a company losing money? Have your policies in fact created incentives not to produce, but to cheat?

His response was okay, maybe a B-; something about everyone taking what they can get. It is certainly true that there are people who work harder for better money. The important question is what the split is, and, of course, if there is actual collusion from the government with the cheaters.

Go Figure Mr. Laffler!

Doug Schafer pointed out this 'small problem to me'. Former Seattle City Attorney Mark Sidran was fond in his speeches of noting how such small problems can lead to bigger one's. This is perhaps the pre-eminent example.

In the early 1980's the Washington State Bar made some changes to the 'Rules of Professional Conduct' (RPC), including 3.3 D. This rule concerns the necessity of a legal professional reporting the illegal behavior of a client, including, perhaps most saliently, another Lawyer.

Washington State Bar Rules

Section 3.3 Candor Toward the Tribunal

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(d) If the lawyer has offered material evidence and comes to know of its
falsity, and disclosure of this fact is prohibited by Rule 1.6, the lawyer
shall promptly make reasonable efforts to convince the client to consent
to disclosure. If the client refuses to consent to disclosure, the lawyer
may seek to withdraw from the representation in accordance with Rule 1.16.

American Bar Association Model Rules

Section 3.3 Candor Toward the Tribunal

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d) In an ex parte proceeding, a lawyer shall inform the tribunal of all material facts known to the lawyer that will enable the tribunal to make an informed decision, whether or not the facts are adverse.

You may be aware that just before I started this blog I filed a bar complaint against John McKay. This was, as former Seattle City Attorney (or Rudy Giulianni) would put it - a 'little thing'. Specifically I raised a legal point about the profession's responsibility to the public as spelled out in the Constitution. Personally I'm most concerned about the financial aspect of this - called 'fiduciary responsibility'. This complaint though focuses on election law and illustrates the same problem - the law does not believe they have any responsibility whatsoever to the public.

Consider, if you will, just how this fact might overlay with the changes in Bar Rules implemented by our local profession. Say 'WA', eh?

The McKay Bar documents are here, here, and here.
(These were originally referenced in my blog in my first post ever - 6 months ago, to the day.)

Schafer has a web site, here:

Crosscut can put forth some of the worst seattle centric limousine liberal right wing conspirator friendly propoganda - but at the same time they also manage to occassionally publish stuff from some of the best.

Today I commented on three pieces, a great example of this profile.

A piece by Hugh Spitzer is an example of some of the worst:

Hugh Spitzer on the Constitution

An op-ed by former WSDOT Director Douglas MacDonald is an example of some of the best:

Douglas MacDonald on Transportation and Realistic Growth Management

What Crosscut will actually mean to the NW is perhaps best foreshadowed by a piece by Business Manager Yazmin Mehdi.

Yazmin Mehdi writing about business

Doug waits anxiously for the Acme Real Estate Agency to bring him a buyer....

MLS Listing of my house

The remodel work is mine. It's a bit rougher than it looks in the pictures, but not bad. It did take longer than I orginally thought, hence the sale right now.

Cops, Crooks, and Politicians

By Neil W. Moloney

With a foreword by Former Governor John Spellman

1993

This book is not quite the tell all that the title promises, however for those concerned with public safety, post WW2 corruption, or Pacific NW history this is a must read.

This is a cop's story of an uncompleted investigation, starting with a 1954 murder of a Seattle Police Officer in a Greenwood neighborhood bank robbery. The perpetrators were Canadians, apparently connected.

The author, former chief of the Seattle PD, Port of Seattle, and the Washington State Patrol, started his career about this time. He rose to the top ranks in the 1974 corruption scandals, a story he also addresses.

He doesn't name American names, or at least new ones. He does talk at great length about Canadian corruption and implies that there are similarities in 'practice' on this side of the border.

One name he mentions a lot, and seems to like, is former US Attorney Brock Adams who did his best to prosecute the case. Curiously this book was written not long after Adam's disgracement on no evidence.

Reading between the lines the names not said would be Norm Maleng and the Judges of King County, to start. Moloney though is a good cop, and states only those conclusions that he can back up.

It is up to the reader to bring their own experience to the story - and to ask themselves whether those same corrupt practices continue - or, as more likely, reinvent themselves.

A frequent complaint of anyone who takes their responsibility as a citizen seriously is the lack of decent information on judicial races. Getting a good picture of a Judge is difficult. Unless one is a regular observer of the court - a practicing lawyer, an intelligent court clerk, or above average police officer. One area where we definitely could do better is holding these individuals responsible for the consequences of their actions when the mess up - if it rise to that level, even just once. Even more important of course is removing such a dangerous individual from the practice BEFORE they ever get to consideration for a judicial seat.

I've got no smoking gun on Parisiene - however I do have a bit of information, enough to cause me not to vote for her, absent evidence to the contrary, and perhaps of some use to you.

Parisien is a 90k a year Assistant Attorney General since 1997, hired by Christine Gregoire.

My direct knowledge of her is through an email exchange - a response to an email to Ron Sims about the trickiness of dealing with abuse issues - whether they be sexual, racial, or anything. I don't think that Ms. Parisiene read my email closely enough to realize that I wasn't disagreeing with his assessment of Gregoire - and as such perhaps not as pro-Gregoire as Ms. Parisien thought. This was in the spring of the 2004 Gubernatorial year when Sims was contesting for the old style democratic nomination - I haven't checked but I would assume Ms. Parisien did go through the appropriate hoops in order to volunteer for her boss's campaign.
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I've done a quick google on Parisien - perhaps the best info out there are the various candidate interviews done by political organizations including partisan legislative district bodies. She graduated from SU and went to Law School back east, practicing there for a time, returning here in 1997 for an AG position. She moved to Mercer Island 6 years ago. She's done a lot of domestic violence work, including with King County, and this is what concerns me.

For a supposed expert on the subject of abuse her answer strikes me as curiously lacking. Some State Departmental employess, including some in the AG's office make it a practice of 'abusing' the law on harrassment, etc, for their own benefit and, apparently, 'control' needs. I have to wonder if Ms. Parisien hasn't in fact used my particular case in order to herself take advantage of this weakness in our current judicial oversight ability.

I can't say for sure, but absent a strong condemnation of these practices on the behalf of State employees in Downtown Seattle Superior Court this is definitely a way too risky candidate.

Curiously, the King County Bar Association only rates her as 'qualified' - the third highest ranking in the race for position #1. The gay bar group ranks her as unqualified. I'm not up on current legal practice in Seattle, but I do hope that this represents a knowledge of the abuses of Gregoire and her associates as it applies to the practice. Certainly there are at least a few folks who are more than fed up with it - some of them are likely even friends of Sims!

The damage done by Gregoire and her cohorts to all aspects of authority in this State - public and private sector has yet to be determined. This is why I oppose Gregoire. That's not saying I have any legal evidence against her, it's just saying she's just too risky to hire. There are areas that do need further professional investigation - on probable cause, if you will. Most notable of those are her other 'professional' associates.

Though the King County Court's may well believe that any individual capable of making a rational, legal, argument against the behavior of a State Employee (on OR off the clock) is in fact the equivalent of a violent lawless sexual predator it may well be that it is the opposit which is the case.

I'm still open minded about Parisien, but absent her condemnation of these practices, including as they've been applied to myself, she is, at best, not fit for this office. I won't burden you with an articulation of the worst case...at least not yet.

Here's the email exchange, again, from the 2004 Gregoire Campaign:

Your status as a citizen in Seattle is the direct inverse of your ability to express your opinion to an elected local official.

If you are able to significantly effect both positive and negative opinions, double the effect.

If you are able to express your opinion with an eye to the budget, multiply it.

If you are to do all of the above, use an exponent.

(If you wish a positive Status in Seattle find a way to give bucketloads of cash to Foster, Pepper, and Sheffleman and 'volunteer' to speak for one of their tax revenue 'deals'.)

A curious legal standard of Gregoire's generation under the law is 'the perception of the victim' .

I'm gonna challenge that bit of abusive double speak here, but first let me note that it is not without a rational basis, no matter how badly misapplied.

Folks who have been abused are sensitive, actions that most of us consider part of the rough and tumble of daily life in the real world can be quite stressful - this may well be a prime indicator of Post Traumatic Stress Disorder - whether it be a vietnam era vet or rape victim.

As the reality of our current financial system begins to dawn on American's I've become aware of a 'mistake' in the economic numbers for our State - we too may already be, "in the shit".

The story, as it's been vaguely reported to me by a credible source, is that the usual summer layoffs from the school system were not reported. This has resulted in 'seasonally adjusted' numbers in the most recent reports that don't include the offsetting regular drop!

I'm not going to accuse anyone of intentional misreporting based on the information I have so far, but it sure seems to happen a lot around election issues in King County and the State.

Property rights are thought of as the domain of the local conservative battling his government for rights to develop environmentally protected land. In fact though it is simply an intellectual tool, not even a 'Motley' one, as in the title of this blog.

In economic theory ownership is defined as an ability to control a resource, of course including your own labor and brain. This may seem droll, but ability to 'control' a resource is, theoretically, supposed to be determined on your ability to manage the resource. Those that are not able to manage do not gain the resources to control anything more than themselves, if even that.

But it is not so simple as econ 101 would have us believe. For one, information is not free.Perhaps most importantly their are very definitely things that make government ownership of PARTIAL property rights desirable. The utility easement on your property is perhaps the simplest and most easily understood example of such a well defined partial transfer.

Some further explorations of important basics that they didn't tell you about econ 101....

Supply and Demand applies not only to specific products or an individual's labor. Supply and demand also effects the organization of our economy - the supply of a particular size and form of an organization is, theoretically, also subject to market forces.

Unfortunately due our current financial system this mechanism is not working - the determinant of success is not the ability to deliver a quality product, but rather one's complicity in the financial system that has just 'disproved' itself.

Taxation, under U.S. laws, is definitely not 'equal'. We like to see ourselves as a 'progressive' nation, helping out those that are less well off through our tax system. But if we step back and take a good look at this, is it really true?

Consider our civil justice system. From the same measure we apply to taxation is 'law' regressive or progressive?

Take another step back. Ask yourself this, considering everything under the control of law, taxes, civil courts, criminal courts, human resources, politicians, etc do we actually live in a progressive society or a massively regressive one?

Now, add the fourth dimension to your perspective, time.

Have we, since the 1960's, become a more just society? Or, perhaps have we become, in terms of our 'law', a third world country?

Law is fairly clear about self defense.

So too is our constitution about the tools available to us to defend ourselves against government. We are guaranteed the right to petition for redress, and the first and second ammendments of the constitution make due process clear.

That standard of what constitutes a threat from a government against an individual citizen must be high, and, bloody hopefully, it should be as narrow as possible.

But, exactly what is that standard, that is my question for you.

As in, like, compared to, British Columbia?

I went to a cross-border environmental lecture at Tacoma's University of Puget Sound last night, 'hosted' by Steve Scher of KUOW as well as Vaughn Palmer, Political Correspondent for the Vancouver Sun.

Palmer opened with an interesting historical rant on the name 'Columbia - it turns out Washington State had been considered to be named so - but it was rejected as too confusing, given the existing Washington, District of.....

Go figure.

I took it to be this writer's rhetorical take on the prophesy of 'ecotopia' or the more mainstream 'Cascadia'. It is an interesting take - a way of literally reflecting both the shared environment and economics of the two cross-border regions - as well as their sovereign differences. Perhaps I'm reading too much into his words, but I do think at least one student had the same read.

..I wonder what Bert Goyle would think....?

We hear a lot about how law is supposed to be bi-partisan. But in practice, is it really? Or was the Duke LaCrosse player prosecutor just making an attempt to manipulate both sides of the aisle?

...not that there is a single example of such here in the Pacific NW....

Citing DOJ 'policy' Bush Appointed Manhattan District US Attorney Michael Garcia has refused to prosecute Eliot Spitzer for prostitution.

Well, FWIW, I sure hope bi-partisanship is defined differently under Obama... :-)

However, it is a pretty safe assumption that the 'Bar' of legal conduct is set about the same here in Washington State, under the direction of the King County Superior Court, and it's officers.

New York Times article.

Here's an idea - how about we only pay these folks minimum wage? Are they really worth any more than that?

On Wall Street and Capitol Hill we are faced with a crisis of leadership and, unfortunately, our local 'main street' authorities are not without complicity in these practices. Most notably the criminal lobbying activities of Preston Gates Ellis (Microsoft's Law Firm) and the Enron like financial techniques of Washington Mutual under the control of the law firm of Foster Pepper Shefelman.

And, yeah, I'm suggesting that the corruption of corporate America is the responsibility of the legal profession - a la Elliott Spitzer in NYC and Alberto Gonzales in Washington D.C. - and, in the leadership position Washington Lawyers have taken, working as officers of the 'King County Courts'.

An illustrative case in point - the handling of the DUI case of Republican County Councilmember Jane Hague.

Barack Obama has just announced his economic team, including the controversial former Clinton Treasury Secretary, Lawrence Summers.

The item of concern regards some out of context comments regarding the aptitude of women in math and sciences - concerning the possibility that the sexes were wired differently, not concluding it. This was taken negatively by the politically correct of Harvard, and by the public at large - see the comments on this recent piece.

But consider this - perhaps the mathematically illiterate female members of the Harvard, Massachusetts comunity have a genetic defect which predisposes them to accept the slanders of corrupt Republicans?

Nigger Newt Gingrich - that has a nice ring to it, no? Perhaps one even worthy of going down in the History books, the field where he was once a southern professor? Of course, I certainly hope than no one would even think the term 'nigger Nifong' is controversial at all...

One other thing for sure, anyone who can graduate from Harvard CAN'T blame their upbringing for their failings as a human being.

With Obama still filling out his cabinet level appointments it will be awhile before the next US Attorney for Western Washington is selected. This, in my opinion, is a crucial appointment - the recent history has given us folks who are more interested in serving the legal community than the citizens of Western Washington.

I'm not current with the legal scene in Seattle these days, but still some speculation on some long standing names:

Jenny Durkan: At first glance Durkan would appear to be the top choice - long standing Democrat, counsel to Gregoire amd just about the right profile. Personally, I hope she doesn't pass the vetting. At some point I should do some work on her involvement in KC Elections, I have commented a bit on her before in the context of other pieces. Durkan, unfortunately, is very much part of the relationship network that has been a problem in this office in the past.

Former US Attorney Mike McKay has just made headlines locally in his Port funded audit of contracting practices, done concurrently with a Bush administration DOJ criminal investigation.

Seattle Times Story

I'm going to be critical of McKay, and draw inferences on problems in the office from his career, including those of his brother's tenure in the same position of the authority more recently, and famously. The trajectory of McKay's life may well be the best indicator of the degradation of the once fine tradition of moderate conservatism in this State, including his former boss King County Prosecutor Norm Maleng and former Governor/Evergreen College President Dan Evans.

McKay's moderate Republican credentials have a foundation worthy of pride.

I was doing some early morning grumbling about some unusual traffic on the neighborhood arterial a block from my house only to be quite surprised when cops starting pouring out of the unmarked vehicles in front of me.

My Tacoma neighborhood has some great homeowners and a lot of potential - it's Lincoln/McKinley on the ridge to the South of the Tacoma Dome. However the owner-occupiers are less than 50% of the population, the rest not exactly the best sorts of renters. Tacoma's been a dumping ground for recent prison releases and we're one of the areas that gets em big time - worse even are the folks that whose next stop is into jail. I've not even looked at the sex predator list, but certainly have heard the stories.

We're not all that far from UW-T, so hopefully those folks will start moving in here at some point - at the moment though the best renters by far are the illegals. I'm in a personal situation where renting would've been the right choice, but I'm not comfortable renting to this market.

On a related note, on my return from Seattle last Thursday there was a very aggressive semi-driver giving new meaning to the term 'class A' - tailgating me as if I was blocking him, though he had nowhere to go. The trailer was from New Century Transportation, the cab a rental from Ryder. I wrote down an identifier, but I'm not sure if it was the plate or trailer number - R54126, in case anyone does a web search. This was about 3:25p. I'd be happy to testify if his behavior results in any problems.

A brief word here for vitamin 'D' - the sunshine vitamin. I take it seasonally (400 i.u.) and from my personal experience I can't recommend it too strongly - it is much more than just an osteoporous vitamin - personally I think it even helps a bit with the winter blues.

At this point, if you don't take it and you haven't had a sun vacation on snow or sand you will be quite deficient. Personally, I notice the effect right away, and I think you will likely too.

$5 or so, try it out, it is worth the money - you'll likely also find you get sick less at the end of the winter. How much is that worth

(Confidential to Fred Meyer management (Krogers, I believe Southern based) - I made a recent 'one stop' trip to a store of yours to restock my 'D' - though you had a nice vitamin section there was not a single bottle of the product in any brand. Perhaps your customers know something you don't?)

New York City vs. Washington D.C.

Ten business days from now, April 5, Microsoft will be holding a virtual 'special' olympics on the servers of the MS network. (The 'real' event was originally founded by Eunice Kennedy Shriver, Schwarnegger's Mother In Law, on the proposal of a Chicago Educator)

**Please note - ridicule of this particular brand of abusive degenerate is not only allowed, but encouraged. Boos will suffice, but if you have personally had your life endangered by these individuals all restraints are removed, per the US Constitution.

I take offense at the New York City financiers and Washington D.C. regulators who cooked up the ripoffs of millions of investors and employees being portrayed as the best and the brightest. The fact that they now seek to continue their illegal activities via a ponzi scheme against my generation on the US Treasury is more than outrageous.

These folks may well have graduated in the upper portions of their Ivy League classes, but they have chosen to apply their intelligence to enrich themselves not by improving the world buy by stealing from it.

I just caught a timely radio PSA with State Attorney General Rob McKenna and King County Sherrif Sue Rahr concerning High School graduation alcohol usage - a good subject, but with a bad conclusion.

The gist of their piece is to discourage parents from hosting events where alcohol is served. I couldn't disagree more - regardless of the law this is a very appropriate way to handle the situation, so long as the proper precautions are made - keeping car keys, etc.

Alcohol is a legal drug and having more mature people teach its use is crucial. Sure, when the drinking age was 18 there were problems at High Schools as a result, but this is not the same thing at all - consider the anthropological record, for one.

More to the point Rob, Sue, what about the Republicans in King County who never learned how manage the use of the drug responsibly - like, for example, Jane Hague and Norm Satterberg.

Right? What about them?

This enforcement effort comes across as nothing but disrespect for the law revisiting prohibition at a crucial demographic.

Law is not written in stone from Moses in the First Ammendment, it is living thing based on human judgement and the application thereof. Rahr and McKenna are exhibiting much less of this than the parents buying alcohol for their graduates.

Implicitly holding the average citizen to a different standard than members of the government only justifies DISRESPECT for authority.

Given the historical role of the Republican party in US Business it also raises the question - are these folks really competitive or just drug addicted gang banging and extorting thugs corrupting the law rather than making America strong?

It's kind of ironic, in an Alanis Morrissette kind of way, that the Puget Sound is slowly sliding into a record reaching heat wave just as I finalize my bankruptcy, the likely giving up of my home, and, most importantly, documenting the slow build up of causes that created this situation. All, tellingly, absent legal representation.

Some people say I'm a crazy liberal activist (or a right wing wacko - go figure).

From the Washington State Constitution, Article IV

SECTION 28 OATH OF JUDGES. Every judge of the supreme court, and every judge of a superior court shall, before entering upon the duties of his office, take and subscribe an oath that he will support the Constitution of the United States and the Constitution of the State of Washington, and will faithfully and impartially discharge the duties of judge to the best of his ability, which oath shall be filed in the office of the secretary of state.

I am reminded of my first publication, a compilation of research on the subject of Socially Responsible Investment - on the heels of an administration occupying expansion of my alma mater's pioneering South African divestment.

The Hampshire College Report on Socially Responsible Investment

Ed. by Doug Tooley,

April 1983.

Preface
In 1976, Hampshire College bacame the first school in the country to divest from companies in South Africa. This opened the door for us to a much larger idea, that of using investments to reflect our ethics instead of those of the capitalistic ideology.

Dan Satterberg, prosecutor for King County Washington, and Rainn Wilson, the actor playing Dwight Shrute on NBC's 'The Office' are both from suburban Seattle. This blog piece irresponsibly speculates on a shared parentage, given the very close physical resemblance.

That's a nice professional picture of Rainn Wilson. Kinda looks like he could be the prosecutor for the nation's 12th largest County, right?

Compare to this somewhat embarassing 'backyard' shot of the real King County Prosecutor, Dan Satterberg.

For more Halloween fun, consider this advice from Satterberg, er, Rainn. (I'd better get this one right!)

Senior United States Senators were admittedly being frightened by Junior Senator Barack Obama pretending to be United States President.

Leading the pack of screaming old white guys was Joe Lieberman, after this incitement by Rachel Maddow:

Meanwhile, in the real world:

(Seriously, perhaps it is time to get rid of Seniority rules in Congressional leadership - allowing us to, among other things, reward a moderate Republican who is willing to lead from the center instead of destroy from the status quo?)

Where's Lowell Weiker when you need him!

Don't Follow Me I'm Lost

by Richard Rushfield

2009

At the height of the Reagan revolution author Richard Rushfield chose to attend the most prestigious radical institution of higher learning, Hampshire College. This book is his story, and the story of the allied group of artists, producers and marketers that was the Supreme Dicks. It was a coming of age in a moment of political and artistic zen, the time between punk and grunge in the musical world.

The Supreme Dicks were the sperm that fertilized the egg that would become the Universe of Nirvana, Sonic Youth, and Dinosaur Jr, and, as a side project, create the first X fueled raves.

In this book RR skewers the pinnacles of the corrupt and hypocritical NE establishment with humor blending Sean Penn in 'Fast Times at Ridgemont High' and Hunter S. Thompson. His words are filled with the freshness and perspective of a west coaster wandering free in the strict class society of the east coast.

Rushfield leaves the titans that used Hampshire College, and the Dicks, to forge the abusive corporate and political tool of Nifong political correctness sleeping under the bridge with recently released Priest pedophiles.

You however, will walk away laughing, with a buddha smile of enlightenment and individual empowerment that will carry you through whatever the bastards may throw your way.

Available at Amazon and other booksellers.

(A mea culpa: I was a friend of the group in its early days - I believe I was the one who started calling the civilian security force as a prank, a 'theme' that apparently persisted after my departure from the campus.)

Washington Senator Maria Cantwell, whom I usually like, has come out in support of Amanda Knox, convicted of murdering the mixed race Meredith Kircher in Perugia, Italy. Admittedly much of the evidence is circumstantial, but, nonetheless there is a dead body.

Curious how the University of Washington finds white males guilty of harassment **without** evidence, a policy and management attitude that would also facilitate arrogant female prima donnas that think they are above accountability. Just saying, Senator Cantwell - nothing more than circumstantial evidence, right?

Personally, I'm still wondering about the rapes by black football team members that were overlooked by the former black Dean of Students, Ernest Morris.

Just saying Ms. Cantwell, perhaps you should get your priorities in order?

Curiously coincidental with the Pete Holmes takeover of the Seattle City Attorney's office is is the release of Mark Sidran's archives, holder of that office from 1990-2002.

All the more curious for me is the fact that I am indexed in these archives, only one of eight individuals including also Michele Malkin and John Hoff.

http://nwda-db.wsulibs.wsu.edu/nwda-search/fstyle.aspx?doc=WaSMAR4400_02.xml&t=k&q=tooley

There has been much said about the recent five vote Supreme Court decision equating corporations with persons - including accusing the Five Supremes who voted in favor of this decision of treason.

The Constitution sets explicitly high and narrow standards for this crime, noticeably different from English statute and common law. However, for evidence, the Constitution only requires two witnesses.

The Tea Party, still not a fully formed effort, has become the focus of much mainstream media attention regarding the potential for violence. What this still forming group will become is not yet known, and I would certainly give little credence to any corporate coverage of this group - and not too much more for their coverage of the Democrats or Republicans.

As to the threats of violence, there are certainly those in both mainstream parties who put their often hypocritical group think ideologies above the foundation of American Law, the United States Constitution. We do have the legal right to overthrow our government, should it lose sight of its protections of individual social and economic liberties. But recall too, that the right to bear arms is the 2nd right, and speech is first.

Given that the Republicans have crucified themselves with their own ideology (and fucked themselves to a corporate communist hell!) perhaps we will be so lucky to have the Tea Party rebirth true conservative ideals in this Constitutional Republic?

And a tip of the hat to Jon Stewart:

I am so proud of the American legal system. Why, without it, we'd be just another corrupt third world Country with the super rich and the very poor masses - with nothing to keep us all in line but reactionary right wing gangs roaming the countryside...

Click through for the text of a Bar complaint against the King County (Seattle) Prosecutor's Office, received at the WSBA Office May 26th, at 10:25 A.M.

In the Spring of 2007 my last 'regular' work, an independent contractor arrangement ended and I began exploring new career options as well as revisiting previous issues that led to the end of my first professional career.

Addressing many of these issues was a Washington State Bar complaint I filed against the disgraced Bush 2 US Attorney, John McKay, one of 8 nationwide in this well know incident. Though John McKay is an okay guy, I do believe that the Bush administration got this one right, probably coincidentally and the only one of the 8 to be so - for reasons more to do with Washington State legal practice rather than McKay's own character. (His brother Mike, the office holder under Bush 1, is a completely different story.)

Here's a link to the Press Release I issued - not all that long before I started this blog.

Download file

Whenever I get the chance I repeat the story about the assassinated Senior Attorney in that same office at the start of McKay's term, Thomas Wales.

I have thought long and deep on the question of whether to support Dino Rossi in his 2010 challenge to Washington State Senator Patty Murray - and the answer that emerged is quite clear - NOPE.

The recent statewide election contests of Mr. Rossi are an interesting story. In 2004 he ran for the open governor's seat as an outsider against the heavily favored Attorney General, Christine Gregoire. His campaign was personally directed and he crafted it with a 'real', sincere outreach to independents and the nicely phrased crossover 'dino-crats'. Surprising all he won that race, unfortunately it was a victory **exactly** like Al Gore's in 2000.

Since that time I've realized (and been reminded!) that his centrist political positions were not at all consistent with his role as a 'neighbor' in the Issaquah/Sammamish area - marked by hyper-partisanship and extreme divisiveness - though likely also not without blame from the opposing camp. That history likely shows the true character of the man behind the facade.

This 2008 rematch against the now incumbent, Gregoire, curiously, foreshadowed the emergence of the Tea Party.

Respect for difference of opinion is the foundation of the Constitution, and what is sorely missing in America these days.

Much of the freedom in historical America has been through having a Western Frontier which allowed for the practice of those values, even if they were violated regularly in the Eastern Cities, and pre-civil rights South.

Even though that freedom existed only for northern and western white males, it did exist and the progress it produced was real.

It is a sad historical fact that the fruit that was the civil rights movement of the 60's coincided with the partisan political divisiveness of the Vietnam War and the final days of the frontier in the west. That tragic coincidence continued through the end of the last chapter of the frontier, the completion of the the oil pipeline in Alaska in 1977 and the Corporatist takeover of the economy by Reagan 80's investment bankers and lawyers. (FWIW, the folks running our economy now were sniffing coke at Studio 54 and fostering an continuing alcohol dependency at the time.)

The key to the success of the Libertarian Party, and the future of America is more than just a good PR strategy to counter the likes of the Rachel Maddow attack on Rand Paul on his primary victory in Kentucky early this summer, on civil rights grounds - it is also the Parties ability to include the left - i.e. non-violent anarchists (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anarchism_and_violence).

Consider this, what if the white male business America had embraced racial diversity without the need for a civil rights act in 1964?

Running to the government to protect your business is every bit as much an entitlement failure as the so-called 'welfare state'. The hard fact is that if you believe in the free market you **must** be okay with the fact that one of your employees will, one day, out compete you.

Relying on the Judicial Branch of government to create a barrier for your employees to compete by de facto creating a Corporatist Caste system in America contains every evil of Socialism, and more - witness today's America.

One thing this non-violent, limited government, Constitutional Anarchist believes in is the separation of powers among the branches - removing all 'officers of the court' from the legislative and executive branches of government, in as speedy a fashion as practical.

Since the 60's the left has evolved the law to deal with discriminatory abuse - this is a good thing, but misapplied under the direction of the courts. The cycle of abuse is a dangerous thing - in a 21st Century context the American Constitution is designed to prevent exactly that in its protections of individual rights.

There is nothing wrong with determining a persons economic value to society **in part** through governmental decree, including judicial findings of abusive behavior.

It is a true tragedy that it is the abused who becomes the abuser, and in a broader context this is what has happened in America, in the partisan employment spheres of the private right and the public left - under the control of our legal system.

And make no mistake, those individuals that make up our legal system are not victims tragically recreating a cycle, they are fully intelligent humans that have made a conscious choice to abuse via third party for their profit, and sexual control freak.

It is a fact of life that we are not all equal, for the Constitution, and America, to continue to evolve, survive, and succeed, we must do this on merit - and for no other reason.

There are many in right wing America that are using the economic situation they created in failing to realize the competitive economic global environment they operate in to create legions of new members to a financially disenfranchised class. The fact is that it is exactly these people, and these people only - who deserve a government determination of degeneracy - the worst of them no better than a homeless level 3 sex predator.

The word 'nigger' manifests a historical shame in America, never mind the attempts of those that have bought the Tea Party to re-instill racial politics. It is a word we should perhaps not let die - it is a hard fact of life that the human race does produce scum - we just need to make sure it is done justly.

And FWIW, our current legal system can't even manage it's own responsibilities, let along those of the other branches of government AND the entire corporatist economy.

The legal profession has created a monolith - that monolith is most certainly NOT comprised soley of scum, if though led by it. It is however bankrupt - with the responsibility lying along a continuation in direct reverse proportion to position.

There are those that would make it a crime in America today to be poor. But responsibility goes with authority, not the other way around, and if you aren't able to bear the same, you shouldn't be in the game.

Got a problem with that, Nigger?

The shooting of a State Ranger in Grand County, Utah, last Friday night is a tragedy, but having just left Grand County on Wednesday let me add a bit more depth to the story.

Just the Friday night before I was camped in the Kane Creek Springs area near the San Juan County line and was mildly harassed, by a couple of 'rangers' - jurisdiction as yet unknown. It was at almost exactly ten p.m. and the first of two official vehicles made it a point of stopping on a curve at the main road with his lights pointed directly at me, just as I was exiting (somewhat awkardly, half-dressed and half-awake) to pee.

25 years ago today marks the closed circuit tv suicide of Andrew Hermann, protesting the overly aggressive political correctness that was somehow also supposed to bring the school back to the mainstream of the Reagan era - as perhaps best documented in Richard Rushfield's book 'Don't Follow me I'm Lost'.

But is attacking young white males on the pretext of battling 'patriarchy' really politically correct feminism? Or is it really spoiled rotten white women providing scapegoats to the real crimes of old, white male abusers?

-From your favorite Small Business Friendly Socialist...

I've had four 'anti-harassment' restraining orders placed against me, the first two by State of Washington employees retaliating against fully lawful and 'respectful' accountability complaints. The first of these was in 1989, no long after the first of these laws were passed.

Below the jump is my response to the last of these, in 2010, a complaint filed with the Commission on Judicial Conduct another such lawless retaliatory accusation coordinated by the Cascade Land Conservancy.

The biggest point of law is the inappropriateness of assigning 'malicious intent' via a civil process, by common law precedent a very difficult thing to do and made too easy through these otherwise appropriate legal reforms. Applying these statutes to constitutionally protected free speech is of course statutorily exempted and the practice of ignoring such law shameful, conspiratorial, extortionary, and criminal.

Most evil in these practices is the way they have been used to take control of land use and transportation planning, and, increasingly, private business via these abusive practices. Many of these practices have arisen in the social service legal ranks, most notably the large number of Attorneys hired by current Governor Christine Gregoire during her tenure as Attorney General. There is an evident, and unfortunate, legal practice of treating some as second class 'trash' before the law in unwritten practice that is neither criminal nor civil in nature. It is the case that many social service clients have been inappropriately subject to these stigma, and worse. But reinventing the cycle of abuse for political and financial control is a whole level of predatory behavior that exceeds that of even a level 3 sexual predator.

There is precedent for standing against this politically convenient abuse, the Duke LaCrosse Player case as handled by the Prosecutor Michael NiFong.

But the situation in Washington State is much worse. It appears, in fact, that this technique has been politically successful, and has also made major inroads into many larger corporate businesses in the state, not just academia, government, and non-profits.

It is sadly ironic and illustrative that many so-called feminists have become 'hate whores' for the man allowing their once righteous concerns to be misdirected and manipulated unto the next generation of younger white males.

The Supreme Dicks were an infamous grunge era band originating at Hampshire College in the early 1980's. I was the band's first, self-appointed, 'business manager' which didn't mean a whole lot, save for one very epic event. If I recall correctly I was also the responsible individual starting a habit of calling the private campus security force and complaining about our own events, as a form of 'guerrilla' theater.

Below the jump is an excerpt from the Richard Rushfield book, 'Don't Follow Me, I'm Lost' concerning related events. The story, legend, is true, though the name, 'Billy Moser', is not. This excerpt starts right after Rushfield describes the security habit.

NPR recently reported that Congress, consisting specifically of the Senate and House of Representatives, has an approval rating of 9%, down, as I recall, from 11% - still ahead of root canals and pedophilia, but not a whole lot less.

Though our mass media has filled our minds with divisive partisan memes, the fact is that these hate filled, control freak, ravings are mentally sociopathic. The plurality of Americans is, to some degree, aware of this, but in our world controlled by a legal and corporate conspiracy there is, at this time, no rational recourse. Witness, if you will, the irrational recourse of random gun violence in America.

Civil rights of individuals are essential, no one will deny this; personally, I argue that they are very similar to one's sexual integrity - the violation of either civil or sexual rights, rape, are very comparable malicious acts.

Defending civil rights is a noble activity, but just like with sexual violence the victims of civil rights violations run a very high risk of becoming offenders themselves later in life.

This is what has happened in Washington State - to, I believe, the entire corporate body of the State itself, not to mention an increasing number of it's private members - corporate and individual.

Partisan politics, the legal profession, and leading members of the corporate leadership community, public and private, are responsible for this, in the final analysis. First among these are the former Attorney Generals Republican Rob McKenna and Democrat Christine Gregoire (a law school cohort of Ted Bundy) - not to mention the lawyer controlled Jack Abramoff conspiring Corporation, Microsoft and it's chief Counsel, Brad Smith - curiously selected by Washington D.C. refugee Jay Inslee to head his transition effort.

Like war in the Middle East, southern border violence has permeated the otherwise satiated and obese American mind. We have been presented a consistent set of perspectives, but is it really the truth?

Among the educated and still thinking citizenry criticism of American actions in the Middle East is well known, such as the moral hypocrisy of the state of Israel. Once the victims of a genocidal holocaust Israel has become the perpetrators of an identical atrocity against the Palestinian people.

In a recently released video the BBC's Arabic Desk, in conjunction with the Guardian website, details the counter-insurgency tactics of the US in Iraq. BBC and the Guardian allege a divide and conquer effort utilizing Shia militias to battle Sunni resistors, utilizing specialized strategies and personnel developed in El Salvador and Vietnam, including the infamous 'Death Squads'

My question for you: Is the American Military, and whomever actually controls it, is engaging in an ongoing relationship with the Drug Cartels of Mexico creating a holocaust zone of genocidal death on both sides of the US border?

The coincidence of Seattle and Denver appearing against each other on the 'kickoff' of historic Marijuana legalization in both of their respective home States has led to many a comment in today's social media universe. Such comments, tongue in cheek among friends, are fun - even if they are at the level of a Cheech and Chong bit - but not appropriate for broadcast TV and Radio.

Yet, still, the historical significance of this coincidence is the top piece of 'color' commentary for the entire mega-event.

As such, a suggestion - place an emphasis on the word 'BOWL' (as in smoke a bowl....) to whatever degree, style, and context you wish. Those in the know will catch your nuance, and those who might be offended will most likely miss the reference.

Here's to a great event, great coverage, and a great 2014!

Kudos to Utah based Federal Judge Robert J. Shelby for striking down that state's ban on gay marriage. http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Same-sex_marriage_in_Utah

Curiously though this decision may have an impact on another aspect of marriage practice for which the State is even more famous - the historical practice of polygamy.

Aside from the completely evil practices of pedophillic sexual slavery engendered commonly within polygamy is there any difference, fundamentally, between that practice and gay marriage? My answer, very clearly, is no. Both involve non-typical forms of marriage between consenting adults, do they not?

And, FWIW, it would also be completely legal to establish a contractual relationship outside of civil marriage laws between multiple individuals, would it not?

The Parties versus the People

How to Turn Republicans and Democrats into Americans

By Mickey Edwards

2012

Mickey Edwards spent 16 years in congress starting with the Reagan years and in leadership during the Gingrich takeover led by many Reagan era College Republicans. In this book he analyzes the crisis level problems of partisan politics and proposes detailed solutions in a compact and easily readable tome. My only critique would be his omission of the legal profession in the partisan context, including the large numbers of that profession occupying our national legislature.

Political parties are not inherently bad - citizens of common disposition will naturally seek each other out and combine to seek out agreed-upon ends. But when the pursuit of party power becomes the end goal and not merely a tool for achieving a better society, it is democracy itself which is laid beneath the guillotine's blade.

SMOKE AND RAIN

Through the smoke and rain, lightning struck into the mountain's box canyon. A canyon become smoke stack.

The smoke was not from some industrial pit of Mordor, or from the mines of yesteryear, but wildfires to the Southwest, burning for weeks.

But still our homes were tainted, a slightly stick breath restricting malignancy.

With the summer monsoon comes the Southwest wind, carrying the smoke straight here. And the promise of rain.

A promise in light, in lightning, corroborated in thunder.

Followed by a potent silence under sublime gray skies pierced by gray topped mountain ridges.

Still, the smoke.

It begins to rain, hard.

The gray of dusk takes the sublimity to black.

The smoke is gone, but still the malignancy lingers.

It will for awhile.

Ah, the Rain.