> I need to know how to pay my bills

You, uh, get a job and use the money your employer gives you.

>do you have a phd in political science

PhD stands for 'Piled Higher and Deeper' and yes, I am pretty sure I qualify.

Being serious for a second, I get it. Shit's hard right now and appears to be getting worse. But like I said before, do you know who writes the laws? It's not you, it's not me. It's whoever has access to the most money to pay a lobbyist to convince their senator that their bill will make things better for them. Because then that person will donate to their representative or senator's re-election campaign.

>It's dangerous to walk around anywhere outside now!

I'd argue it really isn't any worse than last year, or the year before, and so on. Sure, you see homeless camps everywhere. But people experiencing homelessness aren't a threat to your personal safety. Sure, property crime has gone up. But what law(s) do you propose to fix that? Because if it isn't tax the shit out of the tech sector and the wealthy and give homeless people housing it won't solve anything.

But because the tech sector and the wealthy are the two most powerful lobbyists right now, they get their way and Olympia writes laws that give them huge tax breaks on the promise of "creating jobs and growing the economy."

And we've all seen how only a portion of the people benefit from that "economic growth" otherwise I-5 wouldn't be riddled with homeless camps from Shoreline to Downtown while SLU glitters with giant glass towers full of tech-bros with Herman Miller recliners they never sit in.

And if you or anyone thinks I'm wrong and my ideas are stupid, fine. Just recall when Boeing held the entire state hostage for HUGE tax breaks on the thin promise of "more jobs and economic growth for everyone!" and then reneged on their word and fled the state. They got their tax breaks, and they took the jobs away.

Edit to add: You see, that was Boeing's threat all along. "If you raise our taxes, we're leaving for the low-tax Heaven of South Carolina. So give us them tax breaks!" And sure enough, our lawmakers caved in to Boeing's bluff, and gave the Lazy B huge tax breaks. And Boeing still fled to S. Carolina. Chumps. We should just call every corporation's bluff when they squeal they need tax breaks, and instead raise their taxes through the fucking roof.

The state sued them, and collected a settlement, but big fuckin' whoop, the damage was done. And there's the problem. That collectively our entire state lawmaking body fell for Boeing's bait-and-switch act because otherwise they would lose that sweet campaign donation money tells you all you need to know about how politics works, here at the state level, or nationwide. Money has power.

Can't fix that by writing a letter.

They aren't wrong. You ramble and complain, without pointing out any actual solutions.

What do you expect your senator or representative to do after reading this? How much do you know about actual policy, about who really runs the state, and who benefits from the laws that are passed?

What particular new law would you enact, or what existing law would you modify that would fix the things you are complaining about?

Pearls before swine 3/3/19

That's an amazing photo, and kudos to whoever took it- another family member?

Back in the days of analog cameras you got twelve or twenty-four photos per roll. Taking a picture was often hit-or-miss and until you got your pictures back from the photo lab you were never sure if they turned out.

This one is lightning in a bottle... the warm light in the foreground, the cool green in the background just out of focus, and the transcendendance of the moment. Thank you for sharing it with us.

Just outright gonna ignore that the US has a gun violence rate far, far higher than any other sensible G7 nation, huh. Ok fine, you and your ilk are the ones being unreasonable and not seeing the point.

There are a ton of good roads in WA and also next door in ID and MT. And a lot of places to avoid. If you have time to shop around for a used copy of Destination Highways that's pretty much all you need. It is the bible of every fun, twisty, scenic road in the state.

For some starters, Highway 9 around Lake McMurray is excellent. Fun side diversions are Mosquito Lake Road, Lake Cavanaugh Road, and Lake Whatcom Road.

You could take 9 south from Sumas, then at Sedro Wooley, instead of turning east on Highway 20 go a bit farther, then turn east (left) on S. Skagit Highway. It follows the river east like 20, but is way more fun with a couple downhill decreasing-radius corners that will thrill you, or scare you.

At the junction with Concrete/Sauk valley turn left, join Highway 20, and continue on to Winthrop for a late lunch/early dinner. Spend the night in Winthrop, then take 97 South to the junction with US 2 and back west across Stevens Pass. It's an easy 2-day trip, but can be done in one if you get an early start and have an iron butt.

Try to do that on a weekday, the weekend traffic is abysmal.

Got time to head farther south? Get down to a tiny town called Randle, then take Forest Service Road 25 (FS-25) south up the southern side of Mt. St. Helens. It hugs the side of the mountain and while the road is in terrible shape due to constant slides and washouts, the scenery and the twisties will be worth it. It's a one-way trip, so you go in and backtrack out (Google Maps is wrong btw). This is also a one-day trip but will be a tiring push to get back home. A little BnB in or near Randle would make this an easy 2-day trip.

Gonna stay in or near Seattle? Take a ferry across Puget Sound to Kingston, then head west on 104. Just after Hood Canal it turns into 101, and don't miss the turnoff for Thorndyke Road, and Dabob Bay road. Go all the way to Port Angeles, stop for lunch at a seafood restaurant, then go just outside town and take a right on Black Diamond road. Like a Black Diamond ski run, it'll twist and turn so much you'll forget which way you're going. Turn right when you get back to 101 and head back to PA, but turn left at the next junction and take 113 out thru Joyce to Sekiu then Sappho. It's way less traveled than 101, has way less enforcement, and twists and turns its way up the cliffs along the Straits with killer views.

It's an easy one-day trip but will take all day, especially considering the ferry rides. But after a long day in the saddle, an evening ferry ride back into town is a great way to conclude a ride. Get on the 10:10am boat if you plan to do this in one day.

Want some more fun roads in the south Snohomish/north King County area? Ben Howard Rd, Jordan Rd, OK Mill Rd, Carnation Valley, Redmond-Fall City, Ames Lake, and a few others are easy lunch rides. There's a group of riders who leave Microsoft's Redmond Campus every Friday for a lunch ride out to Carnation and afaik they still allow outsiders to join them. Be warned, their average pace borders on insanely illegal.

And ignore everyone who suggests Chuckanut Drive, it's a clusterfuck infested with RV's and slow-moving cagers terrified of corners. You won't have any fun.

If you're willing to go east, crossing into the US at Paterson puts you on Highway 25, which is absolutely worth doing. When you get to Kettle Falls switch to 395 and follow it south to Spokane. Or stay on 395 to Fruitland and pick up US 2 west back to Seattle. It's kind of boring but the scenery through the coulees is amazing. Spend the night in Leavenworth if you want to break it up into a couple of days.

If you have the time, there are some great roads out around Hood Canal that are also a long but do-able one-day trip from Seattle. Best done during the week rather than on the weekend.

Hawaii also has very strict gun laws.

But being an island in the middle of the ocean, there's no next-door neighbor that allows guns to filter in.

Step off with your MuH cIvIl RiGhTs. No other G7 nation has the insane levels of gun violence the US has.

> Nice try though, because last time I checked it was BLM liberals that were burning down cities and American flags

Capping this in case you cowardly delete your nonsensical rant later.

Caroline Orr-Bueno has studied the nutstick far-right for years, and she wrote these good essays about it. Quick answer: You're wrong and full of shit. Longer answer: Read her essays, have a friend help you with the longer words if you have trouble.

White supremacists attack substations, hope to start race war

Violent extremism in America is a far-right phenomenon

And for anyone else out there with more sense than our wingut friend up there, be very worried about this. The far right is using these attacks as practice runs, and it will get worse in the future.

"Illegal and impossible" glad you believe that every gun purchaser is an upstanding legal citizen and responsible gun owner.

By the way, if you have more of what you're smoking I could use some this weekend when I visit my conservative Trump-supporting in-laws. Thanks!

The GOPs bad faith argument...

They point to Chicago's strict gun laws, while omitting neighboring Indiana has lax gun ownership laws and people are free to travel between the two.

So what is your question here? What is the background? You're leaving some important information out.

>WA accident report

So you were involved in an auto accident? What are the details? What is the outcome you want here?

The best advice is always Don't talk to the cops, ever

If they call you in for more questioning, say no. Say you'll only discuss with your attorney present.

And for the love of FSM, get an attorney. Sounds like you are about to enter the human meat-grinder that is our legal system, and without representation you will come out the other end poorly. And relying on whatever rando's on the internet suggest will not be in your best interest.

get a lawyer now

That is awesome. For people downvoting, Emmet Watson was a crusty old Seattleite who founded a fake organization in the 70's called "Lesser Seattle" which had the catchphrase K.B.O. The initials are short for Keep the Bastards Out. He had a weekly column in the local newspaper where he regularly (and humorously) ranted about the influx of Californians.

You see, Californians were leaving by the droves and moving to Washington because their local housing market was skyrocketing while Washington's housing market was still very affordable.

There was a noticeable change in Seattle's culture of laid-back northwest congeniality, and it rubbed a lot of locals, like Mr. Watson, the wrong way. And because there was no Internet, no NextDoor, no Facebook, what he did was he got a newspaper column which he used to troll the invaders from California.

I used to ride my motorcycle out to the coast and camp whenever and wherever I wanted to twenty-five-ish years ago. Long before reservations were necessary. Pack my stuff Thursday evening, ride to work Friday, take off early, and head west with no destination in mind. Can't do that any more but at least I have the memories.

It's heartbreaking, the solutions proposed by the city & county seem very reasonable. Yet here we are, with Covid, flu, and RSV cases surging just ahead of another holiday season with mass family indoor gatherings and a healthcare system that's collapsing.

I particularly liked the one point from the memo:

>Start at the top when savings need to be made, such as eliminating pay raises for high-level leadership in order to shift the focus toward competitive wages and benefits for nurses.

We are seeing this play out right now in the job market. Execs and CEOs get to demand that they won't work unless the pay, perks, and bonuses are high enough for their tastes.

Yet those same execs and CEO's seem confused when the labor side demands higher wages or they won't work unless the pay, perks, and benefits are high enough to survive on.

Sorry capitalists, you can't fuckin' have it both ways.

El Gaucho and order Bananas Foster for desert. Flaming bananas at tableside.

Yes. Heat pumps are bidirectional. They work as AC in warmer months.

There's no Everett ferry, you probably took the Edmonds-Kingston ferry, then on 104 came to this sweeping downhill curve that opens up the view to the forest on both sides. I've driven this many, many times, the Google Streetview images do not show just how dramatic it is as you round the curve.

The private forest lands out there have signs like you remember, kind of like the old Burma Shave signs. They say when the forest was last logged, replanted, and when it will be logged again, with cute messages about how they are preserving the landscape.

facepalm.gif

None of those are 'lesser known places', you know.

Yup. And I saw another chart earlier that may show what's behind his thought process. For other large social media companies, the revenue-per-employee ratio is big, something like $1MM per employee, while for Twitter it's about half that, $500k per FTE.

Which is likely what's driving his desire to fire so many. If he can keep it limping along with a lower headcount, the revenue-per-employee goes up, and he can say he's just as smart as the people running other large social media platforms.

> he doesn't have to worry too much about profits

The interest on that $44B he borrowed would like a word with you.

Sure. And those are, I guarantee you, the same parents complaining about how traffic is so bad at their school when they go to drop off & pick up their kids.

I hear the phone calls, I read the emails.

One of the most-common complaints every city and county gets: "There's too much congestion at my kids' school! Do something about it!"

Many school districts have a seat on a bus for every child. Some require children within a certain distance (like one mile) walk to school, but the rest have a seat on a bus.

And what happens? There's a giant traffic jam of SUVs and minivans outside every school, because the parents think their child deserves better than riding the bus. Or they can't bear the idea their child walk a mile a day.