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Category Archives: Politics
We are not amused: How politics kills our language and clouds our judgment
June 29, 2016 If thought corrupts language, language can also corrupt thought. –George Orwell, Politics and the English Language A front page Seattle Times story published on June 24, 2016 decries an attack on “transgender” activist Michael Volz that happened in Seattle two days … Continue reading
Posted in General, Media, Politics
Tagged Ed Murray, gay rights, Safe Place, Seattle Police, SPD, transgender
1 Comment
Jungle Boogie, continued (and continued?)
June 29, 2016 Seattle Mayor Ed Murray said today that there might not be enough people left in the Jungle to bother with kicking them out. Which is an understandable (if not exactly courageous) stance, given the amount of crap he’s … Continue reading
Posted in General, Homelessness, Politics, Tent City
Tagged Dorothea Lange, drug gangs, DTO, Ed Murray, gangs, homeless camps, John Steinbeck, migrant camps, public safety, the jungle
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Can’t Buy Me Likes
Followers of this blog will recall that I have penned a handful of articles on Seattle’s own Low Income Housing Institute (LIHI) and its director, Sharon Lee. Ms. Lee runs a $50 million taxpayer-funded operation and hobnobs with the Mayor and … Continue reading
Posted in General, Homelessness, Humor, Politics, SHARE
Tagged cheating, Facebook, fraud, Home Depot, LIHI, likes, liking service, Low Income Housing Institute, popularity contest, scams, Sharon Lee
4 Comments
No Strings Attached
June 18, 2016 A recent Facebook post from Seattle Mayor Ed Murray is at once a study in courage and a window onto the political nightmare that is homeless policy in Seattle. Murray is currently getting skewered by the church-lady left … Continue reading
Posted in General, Homelessness, Politics, SHARE, Tent City
Tagged Ed Murray, LIHI, Low Income Housing Institute, Real Change Newspaper, Sally Bagshaw, SHARE, Tim Harris
3 Comments
The Accountant Who Wasn’t There
May 11, 2016 Back Story: Gimme Shelter The Seattle House and Resource Effort (SHARE) gets around a million dollars in government grants and in-kind donations each year. They ostensibly use this money to shelter homeless people, which they do through a … Continue reading
Posted in General, Homelessness, Nickelsville, Politics, SHARE
Tagged accounting, fraud, homelessness, Scott Morrow, Seattle HSD, Seattle Human Services, SHARE, Steven A. Isaacson, tent camps, white collar crime
2 Comments
The Case of the Missing Homeless Camp
April 13, 2016 Do you see a homeless camp in this picture? –Yeah. Neither do I. So why was the landowner granted a two-year “transitional housing” property tax exemption on this pricey patch of real estate near downtown Seattle? Good question. … Continue reading
Posted in General, Homelessness, Nickelsville, Politics, SHARE
Tagged Chris Koh, Coho Real Estate, corruption, fraud, homelessness, LIHI, property tax, Scott Morrow, SHARE, Sharon Lee
10 Comments
Help Wanted: Social Justice Manager
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
Outrage for Hire
March 13, 2016 Since Donald Trump’s 2016 presidential campaign pulled ahead of the GOP pack last month, critics to his left and right have been increasingly calling him a fascist. As evidence of this claim they cite footage of protesters – usually minorities … Continue reading
Posted in General, Politics
Tagged Black Lives Matter, Donald Trump, Kshama Sawant, media manipulation, outrage, political manipulation
5 Comments
Jungle Boogie
February 26, 2016 The Jungle is the unofficial name for a greenbelt that runs spottily for a few miles along Interstate 5 as it exits downtown Seattle headed south. The area has hosted scattered settlements of homeless people for decades. … Continue reading
Posted in General, Homelessness, Politics
Tagged homelessness, political crisis, Seattle, security fence, the jungle, urban blight, WSDOT
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Kshama Sawant and Occupy Camp Dearborn
February 26, 2016 Seattle Councilmember Kshama Sawant won’t respond to my complaints about the treatment of people in homeless camps. She won’t meet with me to discuss creating a streamlined and independent grievance process to protect homeless people living in … Continue reading
Gun Control, Seattle Style (Part 1)
February 12, 2016 The gun debate evokes strong feelings, but regardless of which side you fall on, I think we can all agree that any law or program designed to curb gun violence should be evidence-based. In other words, it … Continue reading
Posted in General, Politics
Tagged gang violence, gangs, gun control, guns, gunshot wounds, Harborview, Seattle, taxes, youth violence
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Minimum Wage Enforcement Begins in Seattle
This is a good thing. I didn’t like the way Seattle pushed through the new minimum, but now that it’s here, it’s good to see the City enforcing it. That will keep scofflaw businesses from gaining an unfair advantage over … Continue reading
RV Gypsies
A strange new thing is happening in Seattle. All over the city, in every kind of neighborhood, RVs are turning up on the streets – or just off them – and staying there. For months or years at a time. In … Continue reading
Posted in General, Homelessness, Nickelsville, Politics, Squatters
Tagged Freeattle, hoarders, homelessness, RVs, Sally Bagshaw, tent cities
4 Comments
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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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
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
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
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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