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Author Archives: DBP
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Intellectual Dishonesty
Intellectual dishonesty is when someone catches you out in a misstatement or fallacious argument but you refuse, in spite of the evidence, to admit you were wrong. That’s what happened here, with a Facebook post from Occupy Democrats. Early reports on … Continue reading
Posted in Media, Politics
Tagged intellectual dishonesty, Occupy Democrats, San Bernardino
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Reducing Homelessness: Now you’re talking
Seattle Times (Around the Northwest) Friday, December 11, 2015 This story indicates a move in the right direction for Seattle and other large West Coast cities. Hopefully, demographics on homeless people who wind up in these cities now be collected to … Continue reading
Posted in General, Homelessness, Nickelsville
Tagged Ed Murray, homeless policy, homelessness, Seattle Mayor
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Victim Culture
This soundbite by comedian/social critic Louis C. K. demonstrates the fallacy upon which many claims of harm have foundered. The reason the fallacy persists is because the basic idea has some truth in it. When a person tells you you’ve … Continue reading
Posted in Essays, General, Politics
Tagged blaming, Louis C.K., political correctness, victim culture, victims
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The Friends of Kshama Sawant: Progressive politics and influence at City Hall
November 13, 2015 ~ Seattle A “People’s Budget Town Hall” Late last month, one week ahead of city council elections, Seattle City Councilmember Kshama Sawant hosted her second “People’s Budget Town Hall” event at City Hall. Cleverly disguised as a public … Continue reading
Posted in General, Homelessness, Nickelsville, Politics, SHARE
Tagged affordable housing, bruce harrell, Jarvis Capucion, Kshama Sawant, LIHI, Lisa Herbold, Low Income Housing Institute, progressive politics, Scott Morrow, Seattle City Council, Sharon Lee, socialism, Socialist Alternative
3 Comments
Lisa Bright and Dark
Lisa Herbold is the presumptive new Seattle councilmember for my district. Her campaign platform is that she works for the little people (just like Kshama Sawant) and that she’s not for sale to corporations. She might not be for sale, … Continue reading
Outrage on Demand: How Seattle’s Kshama Sawant packs ’em in at the Seattle City Council
On October 6, I was treated to something I’d never seen in 27 years of following Seattle politics: Paid shills drumming for a councilmember during an official meeting. It was at a public hearing on budget priorities. Twenty minutes in … Continue reading
Posted in General, Politics
Tagged 15 now, Kshama Sawant, Seattle City Council, socialism, Socialist Alternative
2 Comments
Whitewash-Dot-Com: How the Internet sanitizes SHARE
Readers of this blog will recall that I devote some of my time to discussing how journalists are manipulated – sometimes with their own connivance – by non-profit organizations and others who stand to make a buck from good publicity. … Continue reading
Posted in Homelessness, Media, Nickelsville
Tagged Cracked, Cracked.com, Dan Beekman, David Preston, Dearborn, frank chopp, Nickelsville, Robert Evans, Scott Morrow, Sharon Lee
2 Comments
Homeless Are Taking Over (Literally)
A recent story from the Seattle Times illustrates the mess a city can get into when it tries to be nice and doesn’t ask too many questions. Take homelessness for example. In spite of all our self-guilting, Seattle has a braggable … Continue reading
Posted in Homelessness, Media, Photos (People), Politics, Squatters
Tagged homelessness, Occupy, seattle times, squatters
2 Comments
Homeless Camps: Do they get people off the street?
Do homeless camps really get people off the street? Or do they merely concentrate them in one place? One thing is for certain: The camps do attract homeless people. And not all of those people are actually in the camp. … Continue reading
Posted in General, Homelessness
Tagged chronic, crime, Dearborn, homeless, LIHI, litter, Low Income Housing Institute, Nickelsville, poverty, Scott Morrow, street drunks, traffic safety
5 Comments
Getting High With A Little Help From His Friends: The Scott Morrow Story
If you’re a regular reader of this blog, the name Scott Morrow will be a familiar one. If you’re not a reader, Morrow is the Seattle man who founded and controls two Seattle-area homeless shelter organizations. His Rotund Eminence can regularly … Continue reading
Posted in General, Homelessness, Nickelsville, Politics
Tagged 1st Amendment, frank chopp, homelessness, LIHI, Low Income Housing Institute, Lutheran Church of the Good Shepherd, Michael Reichert, Nick Licata, Nickelsville, religious freedom, Reverend Scott Olsen, Scott Morrow, Seattle Housing and Resource Effort, SHARE, Sharon Lee
14 Comments
Duwamish River Dredging
The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) sent out a letter to my neighborhood in November 2014 (see below.) The letter notifies people living around the Duwamish River about EPA-sponsored clean-up work on the river. According to a City of Seattle Web page, the … Continue reading
Weed Wars: Medical vs. Retail Pot in Seattle
Here’s an at-a-glance look at medical marijuana (MMJ) dispensaries in one neighborhood of Seattle. All these pictures were taken in a four-block radius around the main drag of White Center, a poor and working-class suburb to the immediate south of Seattle. (See … Continue reading
The Ecology of Failure
So one of my hot tippers calls me today and tells me I gotta get down to the bottom of Highland Park Hill, where the state DOT is cutting brush and clearing out some homeless people. So I rush down … Continue reading
Posted in General, Homelessness
Tagged bag and tag, homelessness, long-term homelessness, Nickelsville, Nickelsville Highland Park, squatters, sweep, tent cities
1 Comment
Homeless Camps: My Testimony to the King County Council (Part 2)
Mary Bourguignon Principal Legislative Analyst Lead, Government Accountability & Oversight Committee October 23, 2014 Dear Mary: Here’s another set of comments and information for the Council to review. Note: SHARE is an acronym for the Seattle Housing and Resource Effort, … Continue reading
Homeless Camps: My Testimony to the King County Council (Part 1)
The testimony below concerns a proposed King County, Washington Ordinance extending (with proposed modifications) county legislation governing homeless encampments, also known as “tent cities.” I have been following the operations of these camps for several years now and, with one … Continue reading
Democracy is . . .
. . . thinking for yourself You know, I’ve always thought it odd that newspapers would try and tell Americans how to vote. And I’ve always thought it even odder that voters would actually do what the newspapers tell them … Continue reading
Posted in Essays, Media, Politics
Tagged campaign endorsements, marijuana, money in politics, prostitution, Seattle, seattle times, Stranger, unpaid advertising
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Drug Buy at 3rd and Pike in Seattle (10/18/14)
Heroin –Great for Tourism –Great for the Locals –Everybody Wins! Heroin’s already cheap as dirt in Seattle. Now all they’ve gotta do is make it legal, just like marijuana. Well, City Council? We’re waiting!
Posted in Photos (Stuff)
Tagged 3rd and Pike, Curt Kobain, drug trade, heroin, Seattle, Walgreens
1 Comment
Robin Hood, Inc.
This story should not come as a surprise to anyone, since Seattle has the highest percentage of hero-hypocrites in the nation, per capita. It’s almost too easy to be a hero here. All you have to do is kvetch about … Continue reading
Posted in Politics
Tagged 15 now, Freedom Socialist Party, hypocrisy, Kshama Sawant, minimum wage
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Take Our Tunnel . . . PLEASE!
“The world’s biggest tunnel-boring machine, nicknamed Bertha — which hit a pipe and was damaged in mid-December after only 1,000 feet of excavation — is down there in the dark, awaiting what may well be the world’s biggest industrial rescue … Continue reading
Posted in General, Politics
Tagged boondoggle, infrastructure, tunnel, Washington State Department of Transportation, WSDOT
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Seattle: The Entitlement City™
Below is a copy of an e-mail cc’d to me by a friend. It’s a complaint he’s making to Sound Transit, the commuter bus service that runs between Seattle and several of the surrounding cities . . . I’ve included … Continue reading
Death in a Homeless Camp
Originally published on October 14, 2014 Background: Tent City 4 is a large homeless encampment managed by a group known as the Seattle Housing And Resource Effort (SHARE). SHARE is a registered 501(c)3 charity that solicits funds from government and … Continue reading
Grannie Makes Bank Selling Warm Fuzzies
Now I’m not claiming that this lady is typical of panhandlers in terms of her life situation. In fact, most panhandlers I see in Seattle are scruffy, and they DON’T drive nice cars. Most are mentally ill and drug addicted … Continue reading
Angry Irish Bum Tours
Downtown Seattle Saturday, September 6, 2014 This picturesque tableaux was discovered around 1st and Seneca, just a block from the Seattle Art Museum and Benaroya Hall, two world-class cultural amenities. It’s not uncommon to see crud like this around on … Continue reading
Posted in Photos (Stuff)
Tagged Angry Bum, Bum Tours, DESC, Downtown Emergency Service Center, homeless
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Where to now, Robin Hood?
Here’s an interesting segment from today’s Dori Monson’s show on KVI radio in Seattle. In this bit, the host is talking about how Seattle’s class divisions are paradoxically widening as a result of the city’s Robin Hood-like efforts to help … Continue reading
Will a $15/hour minimum wage hurt Seattle business?
I recently asked the Seattle City Council to share with me any data they were looking at in their deliberations on the proposed minimum wage hike for Seattle. They sent me two studies, which I have linked for you below. … Continue reading
Posted in General
Tagged 15 now, Kshama Sawant, minimum wage, poverty, Seattle wage hike, working poor
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Kshama Sawant: Super Genius
Here’s a genuine quote from Ms. Sawant. I know it’s authentic because I got it from the Facebook page of one of her fans. Besides that, it just sounds like her: “You know that your poverty is not a result … Continue reading
