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Chelsea Manning defense attorney to speak in Seattle Dec 11
Courage to Resist is reporting: Lead Defense Attorney for WikiLeaks Whistleblower Chelsea Manning Gives First Seattle Presentation -the fight continues! You’re invited! On Wednesday, December 11th, the attorney who represented WikiLeaks whistleblower Chelsea Manning (formerly Bradley Manning) during the trial this summer will speak at University Temple United Methodist Church. This is the first public…
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Black Friday Walmart Protest in Factoria, Bellevue
Images and video from the Walmart protest in Factoria, Bellevue (Nov 29, 2013). I left when the police announced that anyone who does not disperse will be arrested.  The police marched in military formation. The protesters were completely peaceful. Non-violent protest is a beautiful thing. So is non-violent civil disobedience in support of a worthy…
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Response to Claudia Balducci and Kevin Wallace column on transportation
In their Nov 22 letter to the Bellevue Reporter, city council members Claudia Balducci and Kevin Wallace called on the legislature to pass a transportation package that eases the gridlock on our roads and protects our economy. Wisely they write, “We cannot afford the drastic cuts in transit service projected to occur without new funding.”…
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The Three Most Hated men in Washington State
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Microsoft abandons practice that Bill Gates promoted for public schools
Lots of my coworkers came from Microsoft, and they all say it was a horrible place to work because of “stacked ranking”, according to which workers were graded against coworkers, on a curve, and the weakest workers were pushed out. It caused workers to avoid helping coworkers, for fear of giving them a leg up.…
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Seattle judge to hear arguments on the constituionality of Washington charter schools
The Spokesman review is reporting: SEATTLE (AP) — A King County Superior Court judge is scheduled to hear oral arguments Friday over the constitutionality of Washington’s new charter school law. A coalition of parents, educators and community groups say it violates the state Constitution by diverting public school dollars to private organizations that are not…
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Medical mj protest in Olympia
On a trip to Olympia on Friday, I saw outside the capitol protesters dressed in red advocating for more tolerant treatment of medical marijuana. This woman explained to me that she needs to take special breeds of marijuana for her medical condition; recreational marijuana that the state has legalized will likely not have the correct…
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Darcy Burner played a big role in fixing the Senate filibuster
Virtually Speaking reports that Washington State’s Darcy Burner played an important role in Harry Reid’s move to fix the Senate filibuster. Click here to hear filibuster experts Joan McCarter and David Waldman’s analysis. Listen from 10:30 to hear the discussion of Darcy’s role. Here’s an excerpt: To me Darcy Burner was instrumental in moving us…
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Lobbying Olympia for Fair Taxes
Steve Zemke and I went to Olympia on Friday and met, briefly or longer, with about a dozen legislators, including Maralyn Chase, Bob Hasegawa, Gayle Tarleton, Frank Chopp, Reuven Carylye, Cindy Ryu, Joe Fitzgibbon, Judy Clibborn, and Tana Senn. We spoke about tax fairness and accountability for tax loopholes. We had in-depth discussions with a…
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On reinventing Democratic politics
At last night’s meeting of the 41st LD Democrats there was a discussion about how to attract more people to become PCOs and about how to get more existing PCOs to attend meetings and work on campaigns. The discussion began with the question: what’s the purpose of the 41st LD Dems? One guy said: to…