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Thursday, October 28, 2010

It must be true…

…I read it on the internet!
Due to the expected large voter turn out a special day has been added to the normal election day of November 2. In order to expedite the vote counting process all voters voting with the Democratic party will now be required to have their votes in on November 2. All voters voting with the Republican party will now be casting their votes on November 3. Independent voters wishing to cast their ballots favoring one of these two parties should cast their vote on November 2 for the Democrats or on November 3 for the Republicans.

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Finally some good news…

…about what they're doing to my Army. Via Richard Allen Smith at Vet Voice
The Army plans to phase out all incandescent lighting within five years as one of many newly announced steps it is taking to cut energy consumption at its facilities 45 percent below 2003 levels by 2020.
****
"Energy security, sustainability and efficiency are national security imperatives," Katherine Hammack, assistant secretary of the Army for installations, energy and the environment, said in a news release. "This policy supports the Army's global missions in a cost-effective, safe and sustainable manner that will benefit Army soldiers, families and the entire nation."
…and elsewhere...
Sgt. Sherri Gallagher of Fort Benning, was named the U.S. Army’s Soldier of the Year, the first woman to receive that honor.
Good for Sgt. Gallagher, good news for the Army.

Heck, good for news for America.

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Wednesday, October 27, 2010

Here comes the calvary!

The D-Trip is putting another 21.5 million dollars into independent expenditures across the country, and a pair of races in the upper left are among the beneficiaries.

In the 2nd District, they're more than doubling their investment in Rick Larsen, adding $344,383 to bring the total DCCC spending in the district to $605,930. According to recent polling, Larsen seems to have consolidated the majority that he split with challengers from the left in the primary, and these dollars will help seal the deal in the 2nd.

Down in the southwest upper left, Denny Heck, the Democratic nominee for the open seat in WA-03, will benefit from another $562,384 investment from the Party. That brings the total D-Trip spending in the 3rd to $1,728,123. It's a tough race, open seats in swing districts always are, but Denny's a candidate who deserves the support.

Hat tip to the Swing State Project.

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From the "Sad but true" file.

Via mistermix...
The sad fact is that if we do lose the Senate and/or House next week, and usher in two years of stasis, subpoenas and division, it will be because a few thousand registered Democrats just couldn’t be bothered to take a couple minutes out of their day to put a little mark on a piece of paper.
As much as I miss my polling place, I've got to admit our universal vote-by-mail elections eliminate most any excuse voters in the upper left can come up with.

Fill the damn thing out and mail it in.

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An early endorsement.

Susan Sheary won't be seeking re-election as Chair of the King County Democrats, and the first candidate to emerge is longtime local activist Steve Zemke. I don't know if any other candidates will emerge, but I'm sure no better candidate will. Steve brings decades of experience and success as an organizer and advocate for issues ranging from tax fairness to the urban tree canopy.

Plus, he's a blogger. There's a solidarity issue here.

Steve knows how to work within the system, how to work the system and how to raise a little rabble when the occasion requires. He'll be a great Chair.

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Tuesday, October 26, 2010

Help a guy out here?

No, not that. The Blogiversary Begathon is over (though the PayPal link is always active). Something else.

I've used Bloglines as my RSS reader about as long as I've been writing this blog, but Bloglines is going offline in a few days. I've got my feeds loaded into the Google reader as a lifeboat, but I'm not crazy about it.

So, what do y'all use? Have any Bloglines refugees out there found a new home that's similar in look and operation?

Help a guy out. Thanks.

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Monday, October 25, 2010

Yesterday's quote?

Yeah a bit late, but too good to waste, and still true. Andrew Sullivan…
"On Fox News, if you say something bigoted, you get rewarded, you get promoted, and you get celebrated -- and that's a direct media strategy."
Hat tip to Steve Benen.

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Sunday, October 24, 2010

One more time.

…the obligatory Blogiversary Begathon link to PayPal.

If you can, click.

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The House, then…

…as promised. Here in the upper left, we have we have two state reps for each district, and Democrats in the 32nd District are playing a pair of aces.

I've known Ruth Kagi since my time as District Chair when she first ran for the House. She was already well known in Olympia for her citizen lobbying efforts on behalf of children and families. As a legislator, she has continued to display effective leadership on those issues, rising to Chair the House Early Learning and Children’s Services Committee, but she also points to achievements in drug sentencing reform, truck safety and drop-out prevention. She's a thoughtful, diligent and accessible legislator who has earned the re-election I expect she'll receive.

Cindy Ryu's rise on the local political scene is more recent, but no less impressive. Though the only elections she's won have been non-partisan City Council races, her activism in the Democratic Party is well known and she's snagged a bushel full of progressive endorsements. In fact, I think she may thrive in Olympia's more partisan arena.

That's not to say her tenure as a non-partisan was undistinguished. During her time on the City Council, her colleagues chose her to represent the City of Shoreline as Mayor, the first Korean American woman to achieve that distinction in any American city. Cindy, a past president of the local Chamber of Commerce, will bring a strong small business focus to the legislature and will be a strong and welcome addition to our local delegation.

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Saturday, October 23, 2010

I promised to do better…

…by the local legislative ticket, so I'd better get to it while there's time. All three Democrats on 32nd LD ballots have active Republican opposition, and I've been cautioned against over-confidence. Still, the average Democratic vote in the primary was 60%, and there were factors that tended to skew the turnout in that election rightward. I don't anticipate any surprises in the general, but that's based on expecting everyone to do what needs to be done between now and election day. Confidence is not a rationale for inactivity.

All that being said, I expect my next State Senator to be Maralyn Chase, now a State Representative. Full disclosure - Maralyn's been a personal friend and political ally for a couple decades now. That's not to say that we've agreed on each detail of every issue or election, but at the end of the day, you can count on Maralyn's vote for the rights of working people, protection of the environment and main street economic opportunity. When she's ahead of her colleagues, she can be impatient in the effort to bring them along, and when she's set a course toward a goal she can be aggressively straightforward in her pursuit. While some of her detractors (and a few of her supporters, I suppose) will point to those characteristics as a sign that Maralyn can be hard to work with, those of us who know her well recognize them as a reflection of her strong dedication to the social and economic justice she's devoted a lifetime to pursuing and the kind of core integrity that we so often claim to want from our public officials, though we less often reward it when it's displayed.

Reward Maralyn with the Senate seat.

Next up, the Representative races in the 32nd.

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The first random ten...

...of the next seven years.
Mott The Hoople - All the Young Dudes
Southern Culture On The Skids - Drunk And Lonesome Again
Van McCoy - Mr. D.J.
The Five Keys - I'm So High
Nitty Gritty Dirt Band - Battle Of New Orleans
Edgar Winter Group - Free Ride
Champion Jack Dupree - Shake Dance
Bobby Vee - Look At Me Girl
Derek & The Dominoes - Key To The Highway
Richard Hell & The Voidoids - Betrayal Takes Two
Yep, that Bobby Vee. Pretty good track, too.

Oh yeah, here's the obligatory Blogiversary Begathon link to PayPal. I don't really have a particular tale of financial woe to tell this time. I'm broke. Who isn't. I get it.

If, however, fortune is smiling on you these days and you appreciate what I do here, I'd appreciate your support more than I can say.

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Friday, October 22, 2010

7 years.

8738 posts. 336,699 visits. A million thanks to all of y'all who've joined the adventure.

In other words, happy blogiversary to me!

In honor of the occasion I'm going to run a little begathon through the weekend. Things aren't quite as desperate as the last time I dragged the PayPal link off the sidebar and into a post, but times being what they are, a few extra shekels in the PayPal account couldn't hurt.

It's also a way to drag out the celebration a bit. Seven years. Whee!

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