Head West, Turn Right

The Joint Blog of the Conservative Northwest Blogging Alliance: Red State Points of View from a Blue State Point on the Compass.

Sunday, May 29, 2005

Oregon Daily Emerald: 10 reasons not to kill Bush

A recent commentary in the Oregon Daily Emerald, a newspaper at the University of Oregon, made its way into the Drudge Report today. The provocative title, "10 reasons not to kill Bush," probably had more than a little part to play in attracting that kind of attention.

While written from a liberal perspective, I found the column by Jennifer McBride to be extremely refreshing and perceptive.

In all seriousness, I don't hate President Bush. I dislike a lot of his administration's choices, but I think he's a good man doing a difficult job. As a leader, you're always going to be hated. I am too often shocked by the vitriolic repulsion many people feel for our leader and America in general, especially because the loathing is often poorly informed. I've met people on this campus who see America as the worst human rights abuser in the world (unlike the angelic paradise of Cambodia) and people who sway liberal not because they actually know anything about issues but because it's popular.
If you want to see the original at the Daily Emerald's site, here's the link. If the site is really slow (as it was with me), the link at the top is faster.

Crossposted at Western Washington Unraveled

Thursday, May 26, 2005

'World's greatest spamfest'

Check out the latest from the IndyMedia crowd. There's a new devision open in Bellingham and I know they've started holding "workshops" from what some of my liberal friends have told me.

Joel from Western Unraveled came across a new protest they are sponsoring next week... Crazy stuff; makes me laugh!

The event is a completely online protest, by email. The goal is to encourage people to email hundreds of media news desks and politicians requesting Bush's removal and investigation.

It seems almost laughable to me. I hate to break it to you, but swamping the media with email is probably not the protest wave of the future. In fact, I would venture the guess that thousands of emails in one day about removing Bush from office will probably not help the cause even with those who oppose Bush. Rather, it will make the recipients mad. I know at least for myself, getting hundreds of emails in one day with the same old info I've heard hundreds of times could get really frustrating...

...I guess, I think the event is silly, but I'm interested to see if and how the media responds to the massive influx of spam...

...the event seems to be run by the "Independent Media Center" who apparently just opened a branch here in Bellingham. After searching online I found a copy of the flier ... but with a different title here.

Oh, and I just found the one for Bellingham here.

Wednesday, May 25, 2005

Medved Discusses Amnesty Intl. Claims

Tune in to KTTH Talk 770, where Michael Medved is discussing the recent Amnesty International report which accuses the U.S. of increasing human rights abuses across the globe.



CNN has a preliminary report on this issue as well, although it's much more propaganda than reporting. Is this another example of the media making America look like the bad guy? Or do you think there is something more to this report? Another question that comes to mind is whether America really a threat to "global values", but moreover, what the HELL are "global values"?!?!?

As a quick sidenote, it's interesting that London based Amnesty International filed this report. Last Sunday (May 22, 2005) a Norwegian "peacebroker" addressed our graduating class at PLU. He had this to say about the Bush Administration's handling of Sudan, but also our humanitarian efforts abroad:
I wish to take this opportunity to pay tribute to President Bush and the US Administration for its constructive and all important contribution to the peace process. Without the active US engagement, we would probably not have had the present peace agreement in Sudan. (Read the full address here)

Ambassador Vraalsen lauded not just the United States' efforts, but also those of PLU. While I'm not sure of the latter (read: possible fundraising ploy) I do think the U.S. doesn't get nearly 1/100th of the credit it DESERVES for HELPING people around the globe.

Also today, the ACLU (read: American Communist Liberation Union) parrots the AI report as an opportunity for "self-criticism". A newsrelease put out today by the ACLU indicates that the Newsweek story (since retracted) is "confirmed" by FBI documents.

Try and remember that we are talking about what suspected terrorists have told investigators. Now take this in light of what know about the "al Qaeda handbook", which commands those in captivity to falsely accuse "the infidel" of committing acts that would inspire hate in the Muslim world. When the media carries such stories, it almost reminds me of the Bin Laden tapes (aired soon after 9/11 by nearly every network) and later alledged to have carried "hidden messages".

The ACLU also has released documents under a FOIA request that alledgely substantiate such claims. Take a look for yourself, then comment here!

Monday, May 23, 2005

The Story That Just Won't Flush

Cross Posted at Respectfully Republican

By now, I'm sure most of our dear readers have heard about the Newsweek story, which was later retracted for lack of a credible source. The fact that the whole story's linchpin relied on just ONE precious source is another story in and of itself.

While most mainstream pundits claim that the "damage has beeen done", I'm not so sure. I think the story, and the fallout it engendered, continue to cause harm.

An earlier post about the lack of media attention to anything "positive" happening in Iraq received much attention here. That post naturally devolved into a consideration of Newsweek's complete ignorance, and possible intent to do harm to America's image abroad.

TownHall.com has some recent articles which greatly merit your attention! Anne Coulter and Diana West give some valuable commentary on the issues at play, and delve into what is REALLY at stake. More comments of my own will shortly be forthcoming.

Dave Johnson is back

Hat-tip to Joel from Western Unraveled and Liam from the College Republicans...

How appropriate as the major trial in Chelan County starts today...

That's right, Pollster, political analyst, and CEO, David Johnson, who was previously scheduled to speak here in April but had to cancel due to food poisoning, will be giving his interpretation of the events surrounding november's gubenatorial election. He will be giving a lecture and answering your questions on the recent governor's race.

Unfortunately, the event will be at 6pm in Miller Hall 104 tonight. Since the college republicans got a grant from the school to fly him out here and he's paying for his hotel and transportation instead of being at this major book show in New York, I think it's important that we get as many people as possible to show up.

Don't sweat it though...I know it's pretty late notice.

Read about it on Western Unraveled

Saturday, May 21, 2005

That Backstabbin Krieger!

This is also crossblogged here .

A politician actually backstabbing the people? Heavens no. THAT never happens. Well it has and now Oregonians need to light up the lines or lose a major part of your gun owning rights. The reason? In a word "Krieger." Rep. Wayne Krieger to be exact.

It appears that he lied to both Oregon Firearms Federation(OFF) AND the NRA to take part in that nastiest of tactics, the "Gut and Stuff." That way he can tell 2nd amendment types that he supported them, while at the same time with a wink of an eye and a puff on the cigar, hand your rights over to the government... NICE.

Very few things in life are more painfull than to have someone smile at you, pat you on your head and assure you that things were going to be fine. Only to have that very same G-Dmn person walk into the next room and vote absolutely contrary to what he/she just said!

Folks should call or email Rep. Wayne Krieger now. 503.986.1401 or rep.waynekrieger@state.or.us

You can read the full text of the OFF alert here .

Dinesh D'Souza at Western

Wednesday night was the ultimate exposé of liberal political correctness on campus... Mr. D'Souza debated Tim Wise on affirmative action. Too bad Mr. Wise's biggest points were only backed up with eye-rolling, crude language and assenting jeers from the notoriously biased crowd instead of real facts and reason. There were gasps whenever Dinesh would say something wild like, "the founders weren't racists." ... You get the point. I, having already read many of his arguments, was glad enough to see what the real reaction is when they are employed.

I'm sorry I don't have good pictures of the actual debate--I couldn't deflash my China-made camera.

Image hosted by Photobucket.com

Ok, so the real exciting part was meeting Dinesh and having him sign my copy of "What's So Great About America." Below is is the photo-op with yours-truly.

Image hosted by Photobucket.com

STEPPING BACKWARD

Tuesday, the College Republicans did a little Affirmative Action bake sale...

Image hosted by Photobucket.com

They were just doing their part to promote the debate. This has become a common activity for conservatives on many campuses across America. Most operate by selling cheaper to colored customers and more expensive to whites. It was made clear to the CRs, in no uncertain terms, that this type of activity would not be tolerated and would be shut down, were it attempted. Instead, they settled on just calling it an affirmative action bake sale (as an attention grabber) and selling the different baked goods for different prices.

Image hosted by Photobucket.com

(Liam, Steve and Justin discuss affirmative action with various "customers.")

Crossposted at Western Washington Unraveled

Friday, May 20, 2005

Developers and Enviros get cozy

Yesterday, to much media fanfare (here and here), the Cascade Land Conservancy announced its 100 year plan for preserving forests and farmlands in Washington. Strangely, as of this writing, the CLC’s website is silent regarding the plan.

The CLC talks an awful lot about how cooperative and collaborative it is. Sadly, on its Board of Directors and Advisors, something is missing. Not one person is listed as farmer, or rancher, or forest owner, or citizen. Their list of names fall into fairly specific groups. There are the environmental interests (Washington Conservation Voters, Open Space Advocates), developers (Quadrant, Graysmith Landscape Architects) and government (Washington State Department of Transportation, US Forest Service). Organizations like this will only make it harder for regular citizen land owners to choose how to use their land.

It seems that environmentalists have realized that they can’t stop development, so they might as well get in on the game. If you’ve tried to build a home on your own property in the last ten years, you know how time consuming and expensive it is to get approval to start construction. Zoning, environmental, and building regulations can push projects out years. Yet companies like Quadrant are able to start new developments all the time. Large developers and government regulators have been cozy for a long time.

We all know that organizations like the Sierra Club spend most of their money on staff and recruiting, rather than saving the world. They also spend a good amount on lobbying efforts, but don’t often actually go get their hands dirty.

Organizations like the Cascade Land Conservancy have double benefit for these groups. First, they have the ability to stand up and say they’re actually contributing to saving something. Secondly, and more disturbingly, the arrangement gives environmental groups easy access to cash.

For instance, the CLC bought 100 acres adjacent to Northwest Trek. The land was then acquired by NW Trek from the CLC in 2005. The $1.4 million purchase was funded in part by a grant of $850,000 from the Pierce County Conservation Futures. The PCCF is funded by a 6.25 cents per $1000 property tax. Based on sale records, the CLC bought the property for $1,125,000. Thanks to public funding, they made a 24% profit without doing a thing to the property.

More interesting is the deal the CLC was able to secure for the Treemont property purchased from Port Blakely Tree Farms in 2003. CLC purchased the 260 acre property for $8.8 million to prevent it from being developed with up to 194 homes. Port Blakely, had it chosen to develop the property, would have been a direct competitor in multiple industries with Weyerhauser, Quadrant’s parent company.

CLC was able to secure an agreement with King County that looks pretty sweet. King County has the ability to purchase a conservation easement on the property. In addition, the CLC is allowed to develop 100 acres for a “conservation-oriented” community. Lots range from 2.5 to 3 acres. Similar lots with homes adjacent to the new development are priced above $1 million. This is another wonderful windfall for the CLC.

Quadrant has made out pretty good from the deal as well. They were able to prevent Port Blakely from entering the housing market in their own back yard. And there have been other benefits.

Quadrant initially began their development of Snoqualmie Ridge sixteen years ago. They were opposed by residents and local governments in the Snoqualmie area. As the above story points out, a deal “brokered” by the CLC resulted in much quicker approval of Quadrant’s SR Phase II plans and allowed additional homes to be built in their first phase. The article fails to mention, however, that a Quadrant representative sits on the Board of Directors of the CLC. So while King County and ‘conservationists’ get their protected lands, Quadrant gets a speedy approval to build more houses without having to worry about more resident protests.

The CLC seems to be a model for the future. Government has long been in bed with large developers like Quadrant. Government has also had a cozy relationship with environmental groups. Until now, developers and environmentalists haven’t gotten along very well. The CLC has found a way to make these deals profitable for all three. And in the end, it will be even harder for us common folk to do with our land as we please.

Crossposted at Ideals and Impossibilities

Fraud By Mail

The following is crossposted over at NWRepublican.

Currently Washington State is on a headlong dive into vote-by-mail elections. This idea is of course being pushed by some liberal Democrats (because they know they can create more fraud without being caught that way) and by a few old and tired republicans (because they think it is easier for them and their wives to vote that way, and want to force everyone else to do it too.).

If Republicans are a little concerned about the way this last election fiasco was carried out then they should be staying up late at night worrying about this new method. Because at least with polling place voting we have been able to uncover election fraud by KingCo elections. If we go to all vote by mail we will never know.

Recently an anonymous reader sent me the following correspondence. I have edited it slightly for retail readability but have not changed any of the major points. This reader used to be an elections worker in NY city, and now lives out here in the great NW.

I think all-mail is a bad (i.e. Oregonian) idea that greatly enables voter fraud. Even back in the 1970's when I was an Election Inspector in New York City I, as a test, was able to register under four different names with no evidence that any of these registrations were ever invalidated. All-mail registration & voting, as pointed out in John Fund's book, makes this ten times easier because no one ever sees you. One could register & vote under 50 different names without being detected. If one had to appear in person at a voting machine to do this it would 1) take much more time & so limit the number of fraudulent ballots, & 2) make it possible to be recognized -- coming back to the same precinct under several different names would get noticed.

I sent John Fund the paragraph of the 1940 Cuban constitution on their requirements for voting. That requirement was based on effectively ending decades of some of the most extensive & sophisticated voter fraud in the world which had been so bad that the US military had been asked by Cuban opposition parties to intervene & conduct elections there. It called for voting in person with photographic ID required -- in 1940, mind you. Other 3rd World countries now -- including Iraq & Afghanistan -- have far better systems than the US to prevent voter fraud.

The "motor voter" & "count every vote" reforms of the Democrats make the US one of the worst countries in the world for voter fraud, essentially taking us back about a century to the days when Tamany Hall-style political machines dominate urban areas through voter fraud. Under the existing system any clever person can cast multiple ballots without any fear of being found out. This includes felons, foreign aliens, those under 18, foreign terrorists -- you name it. Half of the 9/11 terrorists were registered to vote (all illegally) in the USA. There is little checking or policing of registrants, in many cases even to check whether they are dead, are fictitious names, or are the names of the many people who never register or vote.

Voting by mail & other recent "reforms" diminish the power of real, legal voters, making those who illegally cast multiple ballots "more than equal." It enables people with time on their hands -- welfare recipients, civil servants, & retirees -- to cast several ballots while busy, working people (those who pay taxes) tend to only cast one each. The entire system violates the "one man one vote" principle established by the Supreme court & violates the equal protection clause of the 14th Amendment it was derived from.

A basic rule of common sense these days is: "If that's the way they do it in Oregon, don't do it !"

Thursday, May 19, 2005

Something Rotten In Washington

A nod of the Head to Traderbob and The Jawa Report.

The investigation into election *ahem* "irregularities" up in Washington is getting interesting. From the Seattle Times:

King County's absentee-ballot supervisor has testified that she collaborated with her boss when she filled out a report that falsely showed all ballots were accounted for in the November election.


Interesting stuff. Given what's going on just over the river, you can understand why conservative Oregonians might look askance at politicians meddling with OUR election process.

Cross-posted at Memento Moron.

Wednesday, May 18, 2005

New Member

Please welcome a new contributor/member Blog, Ideals and Impossibilities.

The Freakin' New Guy

That's what the called me at my first job...well with the 'freakin' replaced with something a bit more colorful. So about me...

Thankfully, I was born both West and Right, so I think I’ll fit in fine here. I was born outside of Sacramento to a fifth generation cattle rancher and a housewife. Dad exposed me to Rush (Limbaugh, not the band) before my tenth birthday.

We transplanted to Bonanza, Oregon when I was 11. After high school, I spent four years of college in Indiana. Flat land is inherently unsettling to me. Big mistake.

After college, I came to work at an unnamed large exporter in the Seattle area. I currently reside in North Bend, WA with my wife and (almost) year old son.

Politically, I’m an independent. Ideologically, I waver between little ‘l’ libertarian and constitutionalist. Having been raised by a family that makes its living from the earth, I think environmentalists are the true scourge of humanity. Who will feed them when men like my father are gone because of them? It won’t be me.

Tuesday, May 17, 2005

He's Baaaack

Phil Keasling that is. Ya'll remember him don't ya? The "father of vote by mail," and former Oregon Secretary of State.Yup he is back with a new concoction of election reforms.

It appears that he feels like he didn't screw up the election process enough with vote by mail. No... Now he wants to bring an open primary to Oregon. It seems he does not like the idea of people being, Republicans, Democrats, Libertarians, Green Party candidates and or politicians. He would prefer that people had no party affiliation.

Oh hey! That's kinda like Portland aint it? And we all know Portland works oh so well.

Mr. Keisling's measure allows anybody to vote in the primary for any candidate regardless of party. The top two go on to general election. Nominations are taken out of the hands of the parties and rerouted through signature gathering (1000 sigs per statewide office and congress seat, 500 for state legislative seat).

I wonder if Mr. Keisling understands just how the signature gathering process has changed since the DemocratICK party declared war on it about ten years ago?Then again this could all just be a ruse to get his name back in front of the public. We all know he would love a shot at Mahonia Hall (that is the Governor's mansion) again someday and this "anti-politics," politics might just be the course for him.

One amazing thing is that in the pre-amble of his measure Mr. Keisling writes "Whereas citizens should be able to register and affiliate with any legal political party, or not at all, according to their beliefs, and without any coercion or diminishment of their rights as voters..."Oh? Is he saying that currently the converse is true? People are being coerced and their rights diminished? By the Unions maybe? There wouldn't be any coercion there would there be?

Does this mean that Mr. Keisling would be in favor of a measure that would get rid of forced (or coerced) union membership? Hmmm... Or is his pre-amble just a bunch of hot air?

You can read his nightmare scenario over at OrSoS .

Anyone remember the details of his signature gathering problems for his vote-by-mail initiative? I remember him getting into some hot water and the state letting him off, but I don't remember the details.

Monday, May 16, 2005

Our Media Sucks!

Facts About Iraq: What the MSM Won't Tell You

Did you know that 47 countries have re-established their embassies in Iraq?

Did you know that the Iraqi government employs 1.2 million Iraqi people?

Did you know that 3100 schools have been renovated, 364 schools are under
rehabilitation, 263 schools are now under construction and 38 new schools
have been built in Iraq?

Did you know that Iraq's higher educational structure consists of 20
Universities, 46 Institutes or colleges and 4 research centers?

Did you know that 25 Iraq students departed for the United States in
January 2004 for the re-established Fulbright program?

Did you know that the Iraqi Navy is operational? They have 5- 100-foot
patrol craft, 34 smaller vessels and a navel infantry regiment.

Did you know that Iraq's Air Force consists of three operation squadrons,
9 reconnaissance and 3 US C-130 transport aircraft which operate day and
night and will soon add 16 UH-1 helicopters and 4 bell jet rangers?

Did you know that Iraq has a counter-terrorist unit and a Commando Battalion?

Did you know that the Iraqi Police Service has over 55,000 fully trained
and equipped police officers?

Did you know that there are 5 Police Academies in Iraq that produce over
3500 new officers each 8 weeks?

Did you know there are more than 1100 building projects going on in Iraq?
They include 364 schools, 67 public clinics, 15 hospitals, 83 railroad
stations, 22 oil facilities, 93 water facilities and 69 electrical
facilities.

Did you know that 96% of Iraqi children under the age of 5 have received
the first 2 series of polio vaccinations?

Did you know that 4.3 million Iraqi children were enrolled in primary
school by mid October?

Did you know that there are 1,192,000 cell phone subscribers in Iraq and
phone use has gone up 158%?

Did you know that Iraq has an independent media that consist of 75 radio
stations, 180 newspapers and 10 television stations?

Did you know that the Baghdad Stock Exchange opened in June of 2004?
Did you know that 2 candidates in the Iraqi presidential election had a
recent televised debate recently?

OF COURSE WE DIDN'T KNOW!

WHY DIDN'T WE KNOW?

OUR MEDIA WOULDN'T TELL US!

Instead of showing the progress made, we get photos of flag burning and SPECIAL REPORTS on incidents at Abu Ghraib, people throwing snowballs at presidential motorcades, and thrillers about run-away-brides.

And Drumroll please...

....
....
....

Rather than telling focusing on any of the positives, the scum at "NEWS-WEAK" erroneously accuse our soldiers of flushing the Quran down the toilet! (See more about that here) This from the same "journalist" who sat on the Monica Lewinsky scandal to "save the President" any embaressment. Yikes!

The lack of accentuating the positive in Iraq serves only one purpose. It undermines the world's perception of the United States and our soldiers. As far as I am concerned, our media is undermining our power to persuade people around the globe. The picture they sell of our values, interests, and REALITY is so skewed, it is hardly recognizable to the average American. And we wonder why so many parts of the world chant "Death to America"!

Sources:
USAID.GOV

STATE.GOV

A Win for Wine

Cross-posted at Memento Moron.

Court Lets Wine Lovers to Buy Out-Of-State

WASHINGTON May 16, 2005 — Wine lovers may buy directly from out-of-state vineyards, the Supreme Court ruled Monday, striking down laws banning a practice that has flourished because of the Internet and growing popularity of winery tours.


This is a Supreme Court case I've been watching for some time, and the ruling is a big win for Oregon's wine industry. While Oregon does not produce as much wine as California or a couple of other states, our wineries produce some very high quality wines. Unfortunately, many states require that out of state wineries sell only to in-state wine distributors. Because many of our wineries are small operations, they often don't have the volume or market clout to even appear on a distributor's radar.

The arguments in this case were the states' constitutional right to regulate alchohol production vs. the rights of Interstate Commerce. Commerce won, and so did many of the small Oregon wineries.

And so did you, if you like good, reasonably priced wines.

Saturday, May 14, 2005

Cox and Forkum: Humor For The Right

Coxandforkum.com has some really great editorial cartoons up right now. Here are a few, but you simply must check out the rest for yourself!

AFGHAN TIMES


PHANTOM MENANCE

Friday, May 13, 2005

The Rumor Mill

From The Mill
Ok now this from the rumor mill.You know that RINO republican from the Bend area we blogged about earlier here?

You know, the guy that is supporting the Civil Unions legislation and getting Tim Nashiff all spun up?You know the republican that has not seen a tax increase that he didn't like?You know the guy that was behind the creation of the Oregon Culture Commission (or some name like that)? Or is that Culture Club?....

You know the guy that was all for suing the voters of Oregon and his own district in order overturn term limits on said politicians?

Well the rumor is that Sen. Ben Westlund is angling for a run at the Oregon Secretary of State. Interesting that the guy that was all for attacking the will of the voters would actually be considering a run for the position that is supposed to be the protector of the office of elections.

To further the rumor (and this is all it is at this point, but so much of it just smells as truth) we have heard that his legislative aid is a democrat from the Bend area. From what we hear it is up to her to deliver the democratICK votes for Ben should he make it through a Republican primary."Should" is the operative word in this case. For it will be tough for a "small 'r', tax increasing, people suing" republican to make it through the Oregon Republican primary. Yet stranger things have happened.

Wednesday, May 11, 2005

Political Quiz

Well, I'm somewhat skeptical about how some of the questions are phrased, but you might check out this political quiz...

Here are my "alleged" results:









Your Political Profile



Overall: 80% Conservative, 20% Liberal

Social Issues: 75% Conservative, 25% Liberal

Personal Responsibility: 100% Conservative, 0% Liberal

Fiscal Issues: 75% Conservative, 25% Liberal

Ethics: 75% Conservative, 25% Liberal

Defense and Crime: 75% Conservative, 25% Liberal


Monday, May 09, 2005

The Portland Myth

You can check out the details of Portland's mythical "livabililty," at http://nwrepublican.blogspot.com/.

Or read it here:
There is a myth that Portland liberals like to espouse, and that is that their idea of "high density dwelling" is actually a positive livability issue. This high density will bring people and businesess flocking because oh so many people are dying to live in such an area. (Perhaps they have died there and voting there as they are in King County?)

After all, in the words of former City Commissioner Charlie Hales, Portland is the most European (or was it French?) city of the US.

Well now we have a business census that proves otherwise. This census was performed by the Portland Business Alliance.here A contributor of NWRepublican has sent me a shorter version below.

Note the growth areas...Also note that 4 of the top 5 businesses are public. I guess that light rail thing aint workin so great at pulling in those private businesses eh?

Here is the most recent 2001-2004 Portland Business Alliance Census of the Downtown Portland economy, paralleling Metro data on employment, summarized by CensusTract and done annually. The PBA Census shows that Downtown Portland employment has declined 5% in four years, with private sector employment declining even more. The only growth in employment was in government jobs. Other highlights:

1) Total Downtown Portland employment declined from 86,770 (2001) to 82,500 (2004). The job loss was 4,270. The loss in private sector employment was 4,410 as government employment grew by 138 jobs in the same period.

2) The top four Downtown Portland employers are: State of Oregon, City of Portland, and the Federal government.

3) Residential locations of Downtown Portland employees continue to move away from Portland. Between 2001 and 2004 the percentage living outside Portland grew from 56% to 59%. The percentage living outside Multnomah County grew from 31% to 39%.

4) Transport mode to work given in this Census is as reported by employers (not employees) so it is not credible and tends to tell the City what they want to hear. It contradicts the U.S. 2000 Census substantially by showing a vastly higher percent using mass transit. None the less, even this "Census" shows more people using autos to get to work Downtown than using transit, 49% to 46%, with the proportion little changed since 2001. Also, most of the transit riders still get to Downtown via bus, even according to this data.

Sunday, May 08, 2005

'School-yard politics'

I just happened to check some comments on an April 17 post from Western Unraveled. It's regarding the politics of judicial appointments. Some of the comments were interesting and I thought I'd point them out and see if anyone wants to chime in.

Friday, May 06, 2005

Yo, yo, yo! Wuz up Redstaters?!

Dudes, get the WORD OUT! I want my accountability back.

Wednesday, May 04, 2005

Insurgent Blues?

Today's Cox and Forkum cartoon puts a recent letter discovered in Iraq in perspective:



One does tend to wonder how long the insurgency can keep up the recent pace of violence. At what point are there resources going to become exhausted? On the other hand, as more and more Al-Qaida leaders are captured, morale should plumet. Today's news that Bin Laden's number three was captured, is pure number two for the movement.



Apparently "Abu Farraj al-Libbi" has a skin condition; I guess that's what living in damp caves does to a person!

P.S. I saw Jihad Jim at the Kerry/Gregoire fundrasier last Sunday. Several demonstrators really let him have it, and he didn't take it very well. (Then again the red face could have been from an earlier "pre-funk")