alas, poor bert

alas, poor alberto! i knew him, karl:
a fellow of dim wit, of most poor memory:
he hath borne me on his back a thousand times;
and now, how abhorred in my imagination it is!
my gorge rims at it. here hung those lips that i have kissed
i know not how oft. where be your gaffes now?
your warrantless surveillance? your torture memos?
your flashes of deceit, that were wont to set the senate on a roar?
not one now, to mock your own grinning? quite chap-fallen?
now get you to guantanamo, and tell her,
let her paint an inch thick, to this habeas she must come;
make her laugh at that.

Bob Dylan - Workingman's Blues #2 Lyrics

for no reason - except it is a beautiful song

There's an evening haze settling over town
Starlight by the edge of the creek
The buying power of the proletariat's gone down
Money's getting shallow and weak
Well, the place I love best is a sweet memory
It's a new path that we trod
They say low wages are a reality
If we want to compete abroad
My cruel weapons have been put on the shelf
Come sit down on my knee
You are dearer to me than myself
As you yourself can see
While I'm listening to the steel rails hum
Got both eyes tight shut
Just sitting here trying to keep the hunger from
Creeping it's way into my gut
Meet me at the bottom, don't lag behind
Bring me my boots and shoes
You can hang back or fight your best on the frontline
Sing a little bit of these workingman's blues
Well, I'm sailing on back, ready for the long haul
Tossed by the winds and the seas
I'll drag them all down to hell and I'll stand them at the wall
I'll sell them to their enemies
I'm trying to feed my soul with thought
Going to sleep off the rest of the day
Sometimes no one wants what we got
Sometimes you can't give it away
Now the place is ringed with countless foes
Some of them may be deaf and dumb
No man, no woman knows
The hour that sorrow will come
In the dark I hear the night birds call
I can feel a lover's breath
I sleep in the kitchen with my feet in the hall
Sleep is like a temporary death
Well, they burned my barn, and they stole my horse
I can't save a dime
I got to be careful, I don't want to be forced
Into a life of continual crime
I can see for myself that the sun is sinking
How I wish you were here to see
Tell me now, am I wrong in thinking
That you have forgotten me?
Now they worry and they hurry and they fuss and they fret
They waste your nights and days
Them I will forget
But you I'll remember always
Old memories of you to me have clung
You've wounded me with your words
Gonna have to straighten out your tongue
It's all true, everything you've heard
In you, my friend, I find no blame
Wanna look in my eyes, please do
No one can ever claim
That I took up arms against you
All across the peaceful sacred fields
They will lay you low
They'll break your horns and slash you with steel
I say it so it must be so
Now I'm down on my luck and I'm black and blue
Gonna give you another chance
I'm all alone and I'm expecting you
To lead me off in a cheerful dance
I got a brand new suit and a brand new wife
I can live on rice and beans
Some people never worked a day in their life
Don't know what work even means.

primary election endorsements

21 august 2007 primary endorsements

damn this early primary business. too bad that we're not voting on the 2008 presidential candidates, as it appears highly likely that the race will be over long before we get to vote next year.

i am personally voting on the democratic ballot because it seems as though there might be some reason to vote on their candidates, although with the congress essentially giving up on fighting against the war on iraq and assigning new powers to alberto gonzalez every other week and during their first year in power they passed, not one, not two, not five, not ten, wait let me count them….zero bills that work towards reducing global warming or helping the environment, it is hard to say why having them in power is a benefit. at a state level i am even less impressed with the democrats, they have the governorship and both the house and senate by large majorities and maybe someone out there could tell me about some progressive legislation that they've passed, it certainly slipped by me? fortunately many of the positions this time around are non-partisan.

without further ado well and in case some of you have not already voted by mail (if there are any hold-outs like me who are still going to the polls), here are my 113th year of political endorsements:

king county prosecutor (can anyone out there explain why is this a partisan position? if i ever heard of any eleceted postion that should be non-partisan, this woukld be it. luckily for king county we had norm maleng in the role for the past 175 years, but sadly we now have to elect a new person. r.i.p. norm)

keith scully (democrat) i don't think he and bill sherman take very different positions, but there is something about sherman that is disingenuous, i don't know how to express it better than that.

king county council not a lot of competition here, but if you live in the 8th district i don't see how you could not vote for goodspaceguy nelson (democrat) (http://colonizespace.blogspot.com/), dow constantine can only counter with the fact that he is "a respected, thoughtful, effective leader". lame-o, your opponent is promising to colonize space, time to step down dow.

port of seattle how can you not like a public agency that has the ability to increase the rate it taxes you by over 100% over 7 years? but look at all the benefits – demolition of low income housing, building a third runway (one more than at heathrow airport in london, by the way). seriously though, perhaps someone can tell me why we pay for this? the port has two great commissioners right now, and if we get lucky maybe a third and they can end some of their more insane practices).

commissioner position #2: thom mccann. in a crowded field against incumbent bob (bob) edwards. mccann stands out as someone who would work to reduce the property tax burden. i'm all for taxes that help society, but i don't think these ones do.

commissioner – position #5: alec fisken is one of the two commissioners doing a good job, vote alec early and often.

seattle city council there are three seats on the primary ballot (4 in november) this year, unfortunately the open seat (peter steinbrueck's) did not attract the best candidates, so make lemonade i guess.

position #1: joe szwaja is the guy who ran as a green party candidate against jim mcdermott and got over 30% of the vote. it shook up gentleman jim and i think he's been a lot better and more active congressman ever since. i think swaja could kick a lot of life into the council and would do a lot to help the council stand up to the mayor. jean godden has done a fine job, really and it won't be bad if she gets re-elected, i just think joe will get more strong environmental legislation passed.

position #2 venus velazquez looks like she has promise, but seems to have an indescribable lack of something? incredibly al runte (who made it to the finals of the mayor's race last year) actually sounds like the most thoughtful candidate. at least in his written pieces, he now sounds more humble, but i think that there is an intellectual arrogance ("historians know the truth") not too deeply hidden. i haven't decided which way to vote, i wish joe swaja were in this race.

position #9 sally clark has done fine since her appointment and frankly her opponents should not be on the city council. stan lippman has been deposed as the crazy candidate by judy fenton, who seems to belive that the role of the city council is to censor public art.


seattle school district board of commissioners this has to be the elected body for the truly dedicated masochist. they should issue kevlar vests for people when they get elected

director position #2 darlene flynn, the incumbent deserves another term. if she loses, she can just take a hammer and hit herself in the face for a couple of years, in lieu of serving on the board.

director position #6 steve sundquist seems to be a good fit for the board, especially for fiscal responsibility, a safe and boring choice. zeinab m. ahmed seems like a smart interesting young woman and i think would truly add a new and vibrant perspective. she doesn't have experience etc., but then again look where all those experienced directors have gotten us?

propositions

king county proposition #1: yes. no one could come up with a statement against this levy to fund parks, and neither can i.

king county proposition #2: yes, i guess. levy for funding the zoo and "open space". while i am vehemently opposed to the zoo garage, i know that voting no on this would have no impact on that misguided waste of public funds that works in direct opposition to the zoo's fundamental mission. overall i'd rather pay taxes that help animals and "open space" than people.