Category Archives: Essays

Comments and observations about love, politics, art. Whatever.

The Great Enablers

Posted on January 12, 2017 by DBP

January 12, 2017 Quick: What do you call a Detox Center, without the “De-” part? You’d call it a Tox Center, of course. And that’s just what it would be: a place where addicts could keep poisoning their bodies, free … Continue reading →

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Help Wanted: Social Justice Manager

Posted on March 20, 2016 by DBP

March 20, 2016 It’s too bad Seattle can’t bottle self-righteousness, because if we could it’d be the biggest thing since pale ale. Seattle Smug™ is certified fair-trade, locally sourced, gluten free, organic, carbon-neutral, and non-GMO. And best of all, it’s renewable, … Continue reading →

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Victim Culture

Posted on December 8, 2015 by DBP

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 →

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Democracy is . . .

Posted on October 23, 2014 by DBP

 . . . 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 →

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Welcome to Amerigroup . . . Are you crazy?

Posted on March 12, 2014 by DBP

Dedicated to Scott St. Clair and Dr. Ron Sterling OK . . . so I got signed up with Obamacare on schedule, right? As of now, I haven’t been to see a doctor once, so I haven’t gotten anything good … Continue reading →

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Bitcoin is a Scam

Posted on February 27, 2014 by DBP

February 27, 2014 The Emperor’s New Nuts Recent news stories about the fictional collapse of the fictional bitcoin currency have me wondering who’s the bigger dupe: the trustifarian nerds who buy bitcoins or the journalists who write about them. Take … Continue reading →

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Health insurance: Why is this so damn hard?

Posted on February 8, 2014 by DBP

Don’t answer that. I already know why it’s hard. In a word: Bureaucracy. Mindless, wasteful bureaucracy. See the insurance card below? It’s the third one the government-mandated insurance provider has sent me in the forty days since I signed up … Continue reading →

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Stupor Bowl

Posted on February 2, 2014 by DBP

Why do football players make a hundred times more money than Nobel laureates? Why do American high schools students know more about sports teams than they know about the Vietnam War? Look, football is a game. By any measure of … Continue reading →

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The Schizophrenic Times: SHARE in the News

Posted on January 23, 2014 by DBP

Three recent articles on SHARE’s Tent City 4 from the Seattle Times: Wednesday, Jan. 15, 2014 ~ Sammamish OKs moratorium on homeless camps This article is supposed to be about the City of Sammamish’s decision to impose a moratorium on tent … Continue reading →

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The Village Quixotic (or: How to avoid headaches by thinking with your tear ducts)

Posted on January 16, 2014 by DBP

Some astute TBQ readers have been linking me stuff about Olympia’s new Nickelsville knock-off, a joint called “Quixote Village.” Here’s an extract from the 12/31/13 edition of the Olympian newspaper: The residents of Camp Quixote are no longer vagabonds. They … Continue reading →

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Nickelsville – Skyway Landlord in the News (and not in a good way)

Posted on December 20, 2013 by DBP

Update: 12/21/13 Go to Update Check out this article from the online version of the Everett Herald: http://www.heraldnet.com/article/20131215/NEWS01/712159841 It discusses two fires that occurred in properties owned by Peter Sikov within a short period of time. Background: If you’ll recall, Peter Sikov … Continue reading →

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$64,000 (and counting) To Keep Out Nickelsville Refugees!

Posted on December 20, 2013 by DBP

In earlier posts, I told you how the City of Seattle has had to shell out for a series of post-Nickelsville clean-up operations at Myers Way South, a mile up the road from where the original Nickelsville camp was, before … Continue reading →

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The Ghettoization of the Soul

Posted on December 19, 2013 by DBP

Here’s another Nickelsville hype piece from our friends at Real Change News. The story is designed to make you believe that Nickelsville is the last place of refuge for families with children: Nickelsville Elementary

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White Center: More bars in more places

Posted on December 10, 2013 by DBP

See this place? Papa’s. Papa’s was raided by the Feds for weapons narcotics and shut down over two years ago. But Google doesn’t update its “street view” photos very often, so Papa’s is still there on the street view map, … Continue reading →

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The Friends of Mike McGinn

Posted on December 8, 2013 by DBP

Dedicated to . . . The WA State Public Disclosure Commission N.C. & N.H., for their devotion to public service J.R., for her amazing secretarial skills Scott St. Clair, for his inspiration The people of the Great State of Washington, for … Continue reading →

Posted in Essays, General | 5 Comments

Nickelsville: Finding a solution

Posted on December 6, 2013 by DBP

I offer this recent guest editorial from the Seattle Times for your edification. The author, one Derek Low, is a student* in the MSW (Master of Social Work) and MPH (Master of Public Health) programs at the University of Washington: … Continue reading →

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Nickelsville: D-Day + 1

Posted on September 3, 2013 by DBP

Here are more post-Nickelsville photos sent in by TBQ readers. These were taken by different people who visited the camp on September 2, two days after all the structures were supposed to have been removed and the whole site was … Continue reading →

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