Last year I posted on Facebook how if every day was Mother's Day we'd all be in hock to our Moms due to buying gifts, and how awful that would be. It was a throwaway line, but there was a little truth to that: we probably ought to celebrate our Moms more than we do, but at some point it would become tedious. Today I saw somebody post to her ( Read more... )

I didn't go to my high school prom. Or any of the dances or any of those rite-of-passage events until graduation night. I had no interest in spending money I didn't have, or having my parents spend that kind of money on a single night with someone who I didn't have a connection with. So when the Washington State Department of Licensing puts out a ( Read more... )

 It has been quite a news week, from Mayor McGinn's naked cronyism in hiring David Hiller to a transit advocacy position, to Garfield High School's phantom, Seattle Mariner Milton Bradley and his twelve-million dollar contract for doing fark-all, to the laughable idea that the city of Seattle was going to require small businesses to give sick time ( Read more... )

In the last week, I've had an epiphany. Morons are still going to be morons, government officials are going to frame their comments based on who's in office and who isn't, and random dipsticks online will say absolutely wrong-headed things without a fear of retribution. They have done so before I was online, they'll do so afterward, and my pointing ( Read more... )

 In the mornings I usually hit the road from the Auburn parents to work in the Kent Valley at about nine o'clock, which means I get to hear most of the Newsline AM program on KOMO (97.7 FM or 1000 AM if you're in Pugetopia and want to listen.) Anyhow, yesterday the host had on Julie Brand, a Community Relations Director for King County Library ( Read more... )

That sure was close, wasn't it? The tension in the air was palpable, the wondering what would happen if the Crips and the Bloods couldn't come to consensus over $36 billion. There was hand-wringing and name calling, but those in charge got it done ( Read more... )

Last month I found out that my friendly local board game store was closing their Southcenter location. On one hand, I was disappointed because I don't like seeing local businesses squeezed out, only to be replaced by another clothing hut for young girls. On the other hand, I didn't spend much there because the prices were higher than what I would ( Read more... )

Last week there was talk that the Center for Science in the Public Interest was pressing to have movie theaters post the calorie count for the tasty buttered kernels on the menu board. I had plenty of things to say, like how I'm tired of agencies thinking that they need to hold our hands throughout life, that someone dares to tell a private ( Read more... )

There's plenty of bad stuff going on in the world, and as fun as it is to expose hypocrisy, waste, idiocy and moronity, I think it is also important to shine some light on the people who are doing the right thing. Unfortunately the Tacoma News Tribune already did that in the case of Brandon Stogsdill, who completely turned his life around.

There ( Read more... )

 While at a "support Planned Parenthood" rally, New Jersey Senator Frank Lautenberg said something that caused me to whip out the Mah-rone award:

They want other people not to be able to have their own opinions. These people don’t deserve the freedoms in the Constitution, but we’ll give it to them anyway.
I don't care about the abortion angle, mainly ( Read more... )