Washblog

From Rick Perlstein at The Campaign for America's Future comes this acknowledgement of the passing of Mildred Loving;

"Mildred Loving was a black woman who married a white man in Virginia, which was against the law in the state. She took her case all the way up to the Supreme Court, which struck down interracial marriage bans in the 1967 Loving v. Virginia decision. Today it was announced that she has died at the age of 68. But what her AP obituary doesn't mention--hopefully others will correct the oversight--is that last year Mildred Loving came out foursquare for marriage equality for same-sex couples as well, and insisted you should, too."

Her statement from June 12, 2007 is below the fold:

[Front paged: NM. Congratulations, Yolanda and Peter Wilson!]

All the way to Colorado from Kalama, Washington
By Yolanda Wilson
Owner: Vanveen Bulbs and How to Garden Host with Video Series on Expert Village

We did it! Delegates to the Washington State Democratic Convention!

Peter and Yolanda Wilson come on down, you are the next delegates to the Washington State Democratic Convention!

As we were leaving for the Cowlitz County Convention, my husband Peter taped a sign to his chest that said," I am not wearing a lapel pin but I love this country enough to become a US citizen last year." At first I thought to myself, this is too embarrassing but then I realized he might be on to something.  I have heard to become a contestant on the Price is Right it is all about the t-shirt and how obnoxious and outgoing you are while waiting in line. So we showed up with the same strategy. And it worked. Everyone loved Peter's sign. A few of the Hillary supporters (one gave him a pin with the American flag on it but he put it in his pocket because he was wearing a t-shirt and didn't have a lapel.) A few Hillary supporters snubbed him but considering there were Barack supporters there 2 to 1 it was a big hit. Just for fun I just googled Hillary images to see if she wears the American flag pin for pictures. I think there are 2 pictures out of 50 with the flag.

[Front paged: NM]

This week's terror-preparedness drill in the Pacific Northwest involves a lot more than what South Sound papers are reporting, and so far the papers in Seattle are ignoring the exercise all together.  An investigation by UFPPC's Jim O. Madison has turned up quite a bit of information about Washington State's little-known "fusion center," WAJAC -- a developing national security facility that (unless we're mistaken) has never been been described by the media.  

Look what was happening in my own home county while my attention has been elsewhere these last years.  Read it in full here.

The Columbia-Pacific National Heritage Area Study Act passed the Senate last week as part of the Consolidated Natural Resources Act.  It passed the House last year.  Now the act will be sent to President Bush for his signature.

U.S. Rep Brian Baird, D- Wash, who sponsored a bill for the designation in the House was ecstatic, "Congress recognized the historic and cultural significance of this region, and this is an important step to preserve the mouth of the Columbia River for generations to come' he said.  

Baid, whose Washington district includes Pacific and Wahkiakum counties, said there are significant potential benefits.

  read more below the fold  

The first review of David Sirota's new book, "The Uprising: An Unauthorized Tour of the Populist Revolt Scaring Wall Street and Washington" is in and it should come as no surprise that the news is good.

[Front paged: NM]

Unless Willie Brown was once your city’s mayor, the odds are pretty good that the gay community in your city is not as out and proud as they wish they could be.

In my little corner of the world, the plain fact is that it's probably a lot easier to remain closeted than it is to deal daily with the little taunts and jabs that come your way -- and of course for some, there’s the risk that they might end up like Matthew Shepard...a man who ended up out and dead.

There has been a reaction to that reality in high schools, which is why we are today visiting the public spaces just off the campus of Mt. Si High School in Snoqualmie, Washington (home of the Wildcats), where a local church group will be arriving to protest the school’s annual ‘Day of Silence’;, an effort to acknowledge the pressures placed on the school’s gay population.

Displayed among the various protesters today was fear, ignorance, disingenuousness,  and a strange mixture of self-righteousness and homoeroticism...and that was just among the people in the church group.

Were minds changed?
Did anyone make a new friend?
And how do Dr. Martin Luther King and the Pledge of Allegiance fit into the picture?
Follow along, and we shall see.

From Jerry Cornfield at The Petri Dish comes the story of Andrew Funk:

"Andrew Funk, who is studying accounting and business at Edmonds Community College, plans to run as a Republican against Rep. Marko Liias, D-Mukilteo.

Funk, 18, said he was getting discouraged that no one in the Grand Old Party stepped forward in the 21st Legislative District so he decided he would."

Oh the impetuous nature of Republican youth.

While I would never want to discourage the youth of today from becoming more involved in their communities and politics, there are more than just a couple of things wrong with this picture - not the least of which is the fact that Mr. Funk has chosen to challenge one of the true rising stars in the Democratic Party and the Washington State Legislature in Marko Liias.

More below the fold.......

So some five years and four thousand American troop deaths later, the New York Times has discovered more "Breaking News" about the invasion and occupation of Iraq. It seems that some of the talking heads, operating under the title of "Military Analyst" on our nightly news were actually mouth pieces for the Pentagon and the Bush Administration! OMG, I mean, WHO KNEW?

I served as a poll inspector for the February 19th, 2008 Presidential Primary in King County WA. This is my (very late) report. The highlight, for defenders of democracy, is that we had to field repair our Premier Election Systems' (formerly Diebold) AccuVote TSx. Yes, the irony of an opponent to computerized voting being the one to fix the machine slays me too. Other highlights include challenges setting up and new opposition to mail balloting.

I hope this report motivates others to become poll workers for the upcoming elections in August and November. The need is real; we need eyes, ears, and hands to help safe-guard our election. In King County, call 206-296-1606.

More...

[Front paged: NM]

Your friendly fake consultant has been digging deep into the world of anonymous sources recently, which is why we were able to recently reveal the truth about Hillary Clinton’s Bosnian sniper story.

Today we take that effort further...which is why we are able to bring to light another exclusive peek into the past of a Presidential candidate...only today it’s Barack Obama.

We will examine his prior associations and as a result we will be able to draw new conclusions regarding his world view...and as we said about Clinton, you might be shocked...but probably not surprised.

Dear Readers, those of you who have been following along since 2003,  the saga in our military family, know that my daughter's husband is in his second deployment to Iraq. He left for Iraq in Dec 07, and since only December, eight in his brigade have been killed in Iraq.

I'd say the violence in Iraq is in no way on the decline, and clearly the Surge is not clearing up the violence. You heard of the recent attacks on the 'safe' Green Zone in Baghdad and the attack on Basra even while General Petraeus was giving his testimony to Congress last week? My son-in-law was on convoy two weeks ago when an IED exploded near his vehicle - violence already was escalating.  

[Recommended. A.R.]

Biblical creationism, repositioned as creation science and most recently intelligent design has lost the contest of ideas on all counts: the rules, the criteria and the judging. It doesn't follow the scientific method; it doesn't allow us to explain, predict, and control better; and the jury of relevant experts (aka biologists) keeps returning the same verdict.

Now the creationists have taken a new approach that they hope will help them achieve their goal of teaching religious beliefs in our schools as science. That approach can be summed up in one simple word: whining.

One week from today, the new movie, Expelled, attempts to turn creationist complaints into mainstream media. Featuring Ben Stein, one of the conservative right's biggest whiners, the film makes several plaintive appeals: There's a conspiracy among big government and big science, and it's not fair! All we ask is for our perspective to get equal time! (Read: we lost, so let's split the prize.) All we want is for teachers to "teach the controversy"! This is all about academic freedom. Americans like freedom, right?

[Front paged: NM]

I've seen an interesting and hopeful thing happen over the past couple of weeks.

While perusing my inbox, I noticed a plethora of emails from various organizations dedicated to 'Not ONE more penny for this beastly war', especially some promoting Iraq Town Halls in each Congressional District in April.

First I thought, 'Yeah right, they think something can be organized within a couple of WEEKS?!?'.  Then, 'I have a ton of Central Area community meetings and two weekends with the Democrats in April.  SNOW or someone will do something, I am sure', and, 'I really should show up at 23rd and Union one of these Friday mornings to vigil with the Madrona group', and finally, 'I'll send Jim McDermott an email thanking him in advance for standing strong with the rest of the progressives in Congress'.  Then it occurred to me, 'Wait a minute, why is Democrats.com calling for people to organize forums?  Shouldn't anti-war groups like UFPJ do this?'

Originally posted here.  Brought to Washblog due to recent Washington State twist.

This morning I received the following email alert from "The Hill":

Pelosi to prevent Colombia vote

By Alexander Bolton
Posted: 04/09/08 11:56 AM [ET]

"House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) announced Wednesday that Democrats will use House rules to prevent a vote on the controversial Colombia free trade agreement.
Pelosi said Democrats decided in a closed-door caucus meeting Wednesday morning to vote on a rule this week to postpone consideration of the controversial trade deal..."

More below the fold......

I utterly oppose Initiative 26. From its website:

King County Initiative 26 would make the offices of King County Executive, King County Assessor, and King County Council Non-partisan. This allows voters to choose between all candidates in the primary without having to "pick-a-party," while making county government accountable to the people, not political parties.

Nice spin. With non-partisan races, meaning candidates won't have party support, only well-funded candidates win be able to win local office. And that means Republican candidates, in fact, if not in name.

More...