Headline News | Emerald City Journal

Can Felon’s Vote?

Published on October 10, 2012

If you’re incarcerated, on parole, or community supervision, you are NOT eligible to exercise your right vote. If you’re out of jail/prison, you’re eligible to vote but you’ll need to re-register again. You may only vote in one state and will need to be a resident of Washington.

If you were convicted in another state, you are eligible to vote as long as you’re out of jail/prison.

If you have a misdemeanor conviction or a conviction in juvenile court then you’re still eligible to vote in Washington State.

If you’re a felon and still unsure, you can call Washington State Department of Corrections (DOC) directly at: 1-800-430-9674. They will answer any specific questions you may have.

Advisory Vote No. 2 (Substitute House Bill 2590)

Published on October 10, 2012

This is on the table and I do support it. It’s a tax break, however, I do think it’s justified. We all know our tax system is messed up and more complicated than a 10,000 piece puzzle. That is why I have to pay people to manage it for me quarterly and yearly. I shouldn’t have to do that! I think measures used to less complicated things should be installed and that means less measures complicating the system. I understand we are not lose some money here for taxes, however, the tax was unfair as it was. I don’t believe some people or business owners should pay more for what they do or who they are. That includes the taxing the rich which I don’t support.

Even Though this should have gone to a public vote and not just eliminated without anyone knowing, I do support the expiration of the tax.

Advisory Vote No. 2 (Substitute House Bill 2590)

“The legislature extended, without a vote of the people, expiration of a tax on possession of petroleum products and reduced the tax rate, costing $24,000,000 in its first ten years, for government spending.”

Can I Vote?

Published on October 9, 2012

Here are the rules for voting in Washington State. Everyone is encouraged to vote and it is your right. You do need to register to vote, however, and you do need to be a resident of Washington State.

To register to vote, you must be:

A citizen of the United States;
A legal resident of Washington State;
At least 18 years old by Election Day;
Not under the authority of the Department of Corrections; and
Not disqualified from voting due to a court order.

Don't forget to vote Seattle! You have a voice so let the World hear it. — Don’t forget to vote Seattle! You have a voice so let the World hear it.

Senate Joint Resolution No. 8223 (Not Supported)

Published on October 8, 2012

I will be voting against the Senate Joint Resolution No. 8223 which allows “universities to invest specified public funds as authorized by the legislature, including in private companies or stock.” I think any of our money giving to the universities should be highly regulated. We certainly shouldn’t let them make investments into the stock market with it or other gambling ideas which they think would be better. First off, we shouldn’t giving the universities any money at all. They should be rewarded by graduates only and should support themselves. The universities charge way to much for tuition and books and their management, CEO, football coaches are making big dollars. Universities make a lot of money and their business model is simple to make things work (students to teacher ratio). The schools, however, should be regulated by the state as they are now just for doing business in the state but we shouldn’t be giving them more money to gamble on other investments which doesn’t help the school or students working hard there.

In fact, if they are just considering putting into the stock market then that tells me they have way to much money to be thinking about already.

With that being said, that is a no thanks on Senate Joint Resolution No. 8223.

Initiative Measure No. 502 (Marijuana – Supported)

Published on October 8, 2012

I support Initiative Measure No. 502 concerning making marijuana more legal. I hate the fact that the only real reason the measure is even on the ballot is because tax revenue will be generated off of it similar to liquor. If it were a free resource, then it would not even be considered or presented to the people. The state is only ok with certain initiatives if they are getting their “fair share”. Same reason why prostitution will never be legal (unless it’s highly taxed and regulated). That is another topic, obviously. Seattle’s poor leadership is always on the wrong side of history. They will support this measure as long as the tax revenue is collected.

As I do support the initiative, I also don’t like the 21 and over legal requirement. If you can legally smoke at 18 now, then it should be the same with marijuana. There is no real argument around this age except it is a bargaining chip for lawmakers to get their tax money.

Another reason why I support the law is because we’ve spent billions of our tax dollars trying to fight it. The courts are filled, lawyers are greedy, and it’s a bad situation overall. Our city waste so much tax money on efforts that don’t matter. For the record, I don’t smoke.

I would have liked to have seen how this tax revenue would be spent. I would feel better knowing it would all support the schools, education, and safety. My fear, history, and experience tells me it will be another wasted revenue stream abused. If they started to collect millions and millions of dollars, Seattle will continue to claim poverty and force more taxes from the people.

I think supporting Initiative Measure No. 502 is a movement in the right direction.

What is Initiative Measure No. 502?

Initiative Measure No. 502 is not specific to Seattle but is a measure that was approved by voters statewide in Washington State in 2012. This initiative legalized the possession and private use of marijuana for adults aged 21 and over. Here is a summary of its provisions:

1. Legalization of Marijuana:

Adults 21 and over can legally possess up to one ounce of marijuana, 16 ounces of solid marijuana-infused products, or 72 ounces of liquid marijuana-infused products.

2. Regulation and Licensing:

The initiative authorized the Washington State Liquor and Cannabis Board (previously Washington State Liquor Control Board) to regulate and license marijuana producers, processors, and retailers.
It established a system of state-licensed marijuana growers, processors, and retail stores where adults could purchase marijuana.

3. Taxation:

I-502 imposed a 25% tax at each transaction level: producer to processor, processor to retailer, and retailer to customer.
Tax revenues were designated for specific purposes such as substance-abuse prevention, research, education, and healthcare.

4. DUI Standards:

The initiative established legal intoxication standards for driving under the influence of marijuana, similar to blood alcohol levels for alcohol.

5. Decriminalization and Law Enforcement:

The measure aimed to allow law enforcement to focus on other crimes by reducing the time and resources spent on enforcing marijuana-related offenses.
However, public use of marijuana remained a civil infraction.

6. Federal Law Consideration:

Despite the state law change, marijuana possession and distribution remained illegal under federal law. However, in practice, the enforcement of federal marijuana laws became a lower priority in states where marijuana had been legalized and regulated.

I-502 was significant as it represented a shift in drug policy and had considerable implications for criminal justice, public health, and the economy in Washington State. The legalization of recreational marijuana in Washington has also been part of a broader trend towards marijuana legalization in the United States.

Update: Voters approved I-502 legalizing marijuana in Washington State.

Initiative 502 was prevailing at 55 to 45 percent, garnering backing from over half of Washington’s counties, both rural and urban.

This voting outcome positioned Washington and Colorado to the left of the Netherlands regarding marijuana legislation, establishing them as the focal points of a novel societal experiment with unpredictable outcomes. Media from across the nation and around the globe observed as the vote totals were announced at I-502’s election-night celebration in Seattle, sparking waves of ecstatic cheers.

“I’m prepared to deliver my victory speech now. Post this, I can sit down and halt the trembling,” proclaimed Alison Holcomb, the campaign manager and main architect of I-502.

Molding The Perfect American Citizen

Published on October 6, 2012

I find it incredibly interesting how American citizens are molded from a young age. How and why they stand for or against a certain topic then calculating why they believe that based on history or their early environment. We all our products of our environment. A simple example is Christianity in America. Surveys suggest that roughly 92% of Americans identify themselves with the religion. Every once in a while I will ask one if their family growing up was religious (not always). Then I ask do they think they would be a Christian if they were born in another country where a different type of religion was more popular such as Buddhism in Cambodia (95%) … they of course say no and that they would still be Christians. The reality is that our environment plays a huge impact of what we are. We all start out as products of our genes, food and growth is provided by our environment, experience is learned through events, parents help guide us, then opportunities for decisions. Some we have control over and others we don’t. We all are hardwired with certain things like fight or flight.

I was talking with a guy and some of his friends I met at the Ram Restaurant recently. He has given up on American and has made the decision to leave it all behind and move to Ecuador. I found the topic interesting because I personally have considered doing a “World Tour” myself. However, he was done with it here and made the decision already. He wasn’t going for a few months – he was going forever. Upon hearing the plans his friends asked him, “what about the stability of the country?” He replied, “you mean the stability of a country whose banks don’t do horrible loans or invest is derivatives? “You mean the stability of a country where the general population has the courage to march in the streets to make a change or throw out all the corrupt officials out of office?”

I couldn’t help but laugh a little on the inside because he was exactly right. In America, our citizens have been molded to believe in staying inside political boundaries “protest zones/areas”. Most Americans through complacency are cowards to political activism. To make a real change we are to believe that your vote really matters and emailing their Senator several times a year can help. In America, marching down the street in a large crowd is viewed by many uncivilized and even unpatriotic.

The example above about protesting is just one of many topics Americans think differently about. It’s concerning how much power the media has on all of us. It reaches into all our homes and pursueds the young or old through the years. There isn’t a king, pope, or general who can even compare to the few dozen who control the information and ultimately we make decisions on. So many American do not even see it. They completely fail to realize that they are being manipulated.

For many years now I have been educating myself of what other countries think of Americans. Some countries are good, however, most are bad. We are viewed as egotistical, flag worshipers, greedy, thinking the US is the center of the World, vain, & loud. Many view us as being to over the top with our own nationalism (we are the best talk). I can’t blame them this is what we hear all the time. There is a constant voice in the media that we are the best. “America The Beautiful” type.

Why are we so committed to believe this type of media or perfect citizenship. Is it our environment or we simply don’t know better because that is all we hear and know. The truth is many do believe and will continue that hardcore commitment in believing we are the very best. Even though when compared to others countries we simply are not. Our education system is ranked at the bottom, our leaders are corrupt, we have lost our status of a Wold Leader by many. What about our freedom? Gay marriage is not allowed, drinking age is higher than many countries, drugs are viewed as a crime where other countries have monetized it and using it to help people medically. We owe more money then money we have in circulation available, our culture is a blend of everyone else’s so we don’t have the best as its a mash up, we have no real plan to spend less, and finally all politicians are bribed and bent to their opinions based on who has paid them.

So are you molded to be the perfect American citizen?

Initiative Measure No. 1240 – Against

Published on October 6, 2012

At this time I’m against Initiative Measure No. 1240. Our schools are constantly needing more money now and obviously can’t manage what we have in place so I can’t imagine them digging any deeper into a hole with charter schools. I do support the idea of the charter school system and perhaps would support it in the future. At this time, however, better management, reviews, and oversight is needed in our current public schools to see where the over spending is happening and how improvements can be made. Our public schools today are constantly complaining about lack of funding (I blame it on spending), however, with the money they are getting now through enrollment – it would be passed to the charter schools making it even more difficult. It’s a very messy situation and the main reason I can’t support it at this time is because our current system (financial for schools) needs to be examined and repaired first.

Initiative Measure No. 1240.

“This measure would authorize up to forty publicly-funded charter schools open to all students, operated through approved, nonreligious, nonprofit organizations, with government oversight; and modify certain laws applicable to them as public schools. “

As I do support the idea of charter schools and would most likely support it down the road, due to to the current situation of public school system I can’t support this initiative at this time. We need to root out the problems with our current system first.

Initiative Measure No. 1185 – Supported

Published on October 5, 2012

I’m tired of the constant and steady (and sneaky) raises in my taxes. It’s always the same story each time and it goes a little like this “we’re broke” or “the recession is hurting us” or perhaps “they keep cutting our funding”. It’s troubling especially with all the revenue being generated from every sector. The revenue being generated is at it’s highest! I believe the problem is with the spending and management and it each department needs to become completely transparent with line item spending. Until that happens I will never be for raising taxes.

I believe most people would support raising taxes if they knew where each dollar was going. They wouldn’t have a problem supporting their schools or the local fire department, however, without honesty and complete transparency, the public will not support it because they know it’s due to wasteful spending internally.

Initiative Measure No. 1185

Initiative Measure No. 1185 is already the law but will be expiring soon. Your vote supporting it renews the law making it more difficult to raise taxes on all of us. Your vote for Initiative Measure No. 1185 “would restate existing statutory requirements that legislative actions raising taxes must be approved by two-thirds legislative majorities or receive voter approval, and that new or increased fees require majority legislative approval.”

Just two years ago, 64% of voters approved this measure. I stand with them to re-instate this measure for many years to come. Don’t raise my taxes unless you come to me with a plan and full transparency (line item spending) for your department/program. We then can make a decision if its useful or useless.

Unemployment Rate A Broken System

Published on October 5, 2012

The numbers for unemployment came out today for September and it just so happened to decrease to 7.8%. I’m not here today to call the calculations a little suspect due to the timing of Obama’s re-election and the next debate, however, you can find a lot of people online pointing fingers and calling it bull.

I just wanted to write this up to give you a better insight into these unemployment numbers and tell you why the system is broken. First the system is used to give you encouragement. It’s development in nature and technical aspects are pieced together to make America look really good. Well lets just give the system the benefit of doubt and say these numbers provided (7.8%) of Americans are unemployed. So if these numbers are right they are saying less than 1 in 10 are unemployed. Seriously – u believe that? That just sounds ridiculously low. I am confident I could claim 20% (2 out of 10) in my group of friends for sure right now. Think about 10 people you know and see if that makes sense to you.

Second and most importantly, the system doesn’t count “discouraged workers” which they say is 802,000 people. “Discourage workers” are defined as people not currently looking for work because they believe no jobs are available for them. First problem here is for a big system like ours in America there is no way to track who is “Discouraged” or not discouraged. No one calls you after you’re fired or let go to know your personal situation. They don’t know if you’re looking handing our resumes or not. There is no way to track (unless they are getting unemployment checks – A LOT don’t bother with that hassle) who is sending resumes or who have given up 100%. It’s all just based on make believe info when it comes to “discouraged workers”. If I’m out of work how do they know that I’m trying hard to find a new job or not – They can’t and I shouldn’t be labeled a “discouraged worker” (not in the unemployment calculations) because I can’t find work.

The 7.8% does not include the “discouraged workers”. So if I’m working at McDonald’s and I’m let go, don’t file for unemployment, I’m now discouraged. Geez that is just about everyone who loses a job whether they are filed or let go. These people are not calculated into the 7.8% figure. If they say we only have have 802,000 “discourage workers” who just gave up that they know of – then realistically there must be millions and millions.

To fix this the system needs to add everyone into one pool except underage, state disabled, never had a job, and retirees. That, however, will never happen. If it did Americas unemployment rate would be around 20% or more!

That my friends is why the unemployment rates are completely false, not accurate, and completely broken.

City Council OKs Inspection of Rentals

Published on October 5, 2012

We hang the petty thieves and appoint the great ones to public office.
~Aesop, Greek slave & fable author

Did anyone in their right mind think the City Council would not pass it? It appears they copied the one that pumped in 1.6 million to Los Angeles coffers. I really cant come up with a perfect word to describe what the Seattle Council is doing to property owners. A few descriptions, are legalized shakedowns, threats or fines if we don’t do exactly what they say. They will list all sorts of RCW’s and obscure laws and reasons for doing this and they know from the Housing Code mess in the 80’s that the judges will rubber stamp anything anyone tries to get clarified in court. Its actually taking over private property when they can tell a person who worked and bought a rental how we need to fix it. The law of supply and demand takes care of that. If a tenant is dumb enough to rent a place full of mold, a sink propped up with a 2 x 4, electrical sockets hanging out of a wall like one described then that’s between them and the landlord. We do not need government to tell us what/how to remodel a house we own, and bought with our own money.

Anyone who follows politics can see spending is totally out of control. They have to find somebody new to screw over. What better way than pass a law that requires every person who owns a rental (even to your Mother in law in your own home) must pay a fee and register your property with the city. Now if that is not hi-way robbery, blackmail or something I cant imagine what is. First of all the city already knows exactly who owns what. The tax rolls tells them that. If I pay property taxes and utility bills the odds are I live in my house, but if I pay property taxes and someone else is paying the utility bills the odds are that it is a rental. But greed, corruption. what the heck ever kicks in and what a wonderful way to get $150.00 or whatever they decide on, from each everyone who owns property without actually having to put a gun in their back. Works for them. They say this is just to cover their expense of running the program. WOW they will have no budget, no limit to how many inspectors or how big of a boondoggle they can create, because they can set the fee at whatever they want to. They can raise it, they can add penalties and fines anytime you resist. Legalized plunder might describe it. They can spend whatever they want to run the program.

But that is not even the worst part. Their reason for passing this is to quote Sally Bagshaw: “This is watershed legislation, everyone has a RIGHT to good housing”. Their were no NO votes so we have to assume that every council member believes this. I think you have it completely bass ackwards. People who own property that they worked and paid for should be able remodel/upgrade or leave it as is without any interference for the government. We have a RIGHT to be left alone. We have a RIGHT to whatever we worked for and paid for if its legal. I know we cant start up a drug lab etc, or create an eye sore, but to say everyone has a RIGHT to good housing is like telling the Little Red Hen to keep working her little tail off and do all the work but then share her baked bread with the others who did nothing have a right to her bread. Well the little Hen quit planting her wheat. I will just close up my little house when the time comes to register because for sure I wont be re plumbing, re wiring, putting in new windows or whatever you dream up. You are giving rights to tenants that they have no right to have. If they don’t like a place they can move. If it is crappy don’t move in. If it is trashed when they leave and take pictures of it, then they did the trashing. This is spreading the wealth in a sense. You want to force single family dwellings completely out and you may very well succeed. I have a little house that supplements my social security check. The house was built in the 1900’s. Of course its not up to code. No old house is. The house I live in is the same age and I have lived in it for 66 years. It is not insulated, not sure the locks would meet your approval, doubt your inspector would let me rent it to anyone without a lot of upgrades which I have no money or desire to do at this point in my life. I am 89 and don’t think it would be easy to make payments if I even could get a long term loan. My tenants have all been working people but I have taken many applications that just blew my mind. One young black girl with 3 little kids filled out an application. I showed her the little rental(really clean and cute, bath fitter had just did the bathroom). It was not nice enough(thank heavens) but she showed me she was entitled to spend $1400 a month on rent. My house rented for $850. Another young heavy set white lady came and had section 8 and had $1100 a month to spend on rent and mine was only $850. So I want to talk about people who you would call poor and you say thy have a RIGHT TO A HOUSE. They don’t have a right to anything. The government has created a whole new class of people with a sense of entitlement. They are not poor at all. They don’t work, never have had a job but government has convinced them they are victims of some this sort. They get a stay at home check, food stamps, and money for rent and free medical. Just because they prefer to have a bunch of babies by a lot of different men and not get married is not MY problem. If someone wants to spend their life drugged up or drunk, its not MY problem. Its their excuse for not going to work. They say they have issues. They blame the government or the old landlord or anyone but themselves. If they didn’t work for it, they don’t have a right to it. At least that is the way it used to work in America.When you take from me to give to someone else its robbery. From the time I can remember on the old farm we were taught, “work or we wont eat”. If you had a good crop you might be able to get a new piece of linoleum for the kitchen floor. We did not have to worry about faulty plumbing or wiring because we did not have any of that. We had a three hole out house. We had whatever Mom and Dad could afford not on the government furnishing everything we thought we needed.

The countries that turned to Socialism are facing terrible times. The people they have taught that Government will take care of them are rioting because their governments have ran out of money. Its getting closer in America. You cannot keep hammering away at people who have worked all their life to take care of themselves and give it to people with no work ethic, no ambition, alcoholics, dopers, and single mothers. The bubble will burst. My little rental is the supplement to my social security check. My social security check(not SSI) that I worked from age 13 to 69 for, is less than the government gives these so called poor people to use for rent. Now you want to make sure we fix our little rental for people who do nothing because they have a right to good housing. Of course the Seattle City Council knows all of this. They had the meeting all geared with the Tenants Union. They want to suck more money away from property owners to upgrade their property in the guise of helping tenants. You are hurting them. When you teach someone they deserve something they did not work for and take it away from the guy who worked for it is corruption and buying votes. Does not help anyone. If everyone is entitled to good housing how come there are so many homeless people wandering the streets downtown?

It’s hard to believe the load of crap the council members are shoveling out. They know better. They are not dumb. They know how to start up another layer of rules and regulations to buy more votes. Sure the tenants will vote for you, but remember they are not the ones you are able to “suck” the money from. It’s the property owners and people who work. When it get too top heavy it will fail. Its mighty close right now. You are promising the tenants you are helping them. The tenants union has convinced them it is helping them. Neither is true. You are hurting them almost as much or more than us property owners. It will hurt them when people just tear down their rentals rather than jump when you say jump. The government will run out of money eventually and the people will riot because they have not been taught how to do a thing for themselves. It pays off to be told you are poor in Seattle. You are entitled to a good house. You do not have to ever work a day in your life, if your child gets a free lunch he is entitled to go to college even with a C grade. That’s like telling you that a D and F means you are doing fine.

Fair is fair. I have lived in an old house all my life and worked all my life. If someone who has never earned a dime has the right to good housing then I figure I am entitled to live in a mansion. With your reasoning I will state my case. Bill Gates lived in a mansion. Sure he accumulated his wealth all on his own. But according to your logic “I am entitled to live in a mansion”. Shouldn’t he have to furnish me with a mansion? The City Council can give me a check each month in the amount he wants for rent. How come it doesn’t work that way? I don’t begrudge the rich people one thing, they worked for it. I do begrudge rewarding drunks, dopers, lazy people and single mothers who think their lifes work is “breeding”. Welfare will even pay for delivering the babies then up the monthly check. No one holds the Dad’s accountable. If I am still alive when the day comes to register my rental house. All rent applications will have an added cost. $150.00 for registering, the inspection cost, the upgrade cost, all non refundable to the tenant. Right now I am happy, my tenant is happy, the little house is not dangerous in anyway but the city need the money to screw away for IMPORTANT THNGS. Thought Robin Hood days were over, but I was wrong again.

Seattle Newspaper for the People by the People

Headline News - page 40

Can Felon’s Vote?

Advisory Vote No. 2 (Substitute House Bill 2590)

Can I Vote?

Senate Joint Resolution No. 8223 (Not Supported)