Hey Eli:
I'd love to hear some comments from y'all on the jury's decision on the King County Metro bus beating case. I ride the bus daily, and I've seen my fair shair of (deliberately?) inattentive or indifferent drivers, I'm hoping the jury's decision reignites a debate about placing conductors or supervisors on reticulated buses (if not all buses) to deal with irate, threatening, rude, or violent passengers who make the ride extra-hellish for the rest of us. Plus, the lack of enforcement, in my view, is actually making people drive MORE. Nearly all of my co-workers who used to take the bus have now switched to driving (alone, not carpooling) because of incidents on the bus in which drivers took no action.

Hi Eli:

One I've been thinking about a lot lately is the need for an expanded civics component in public education. I think this relates to the flooding and to Tim Eyman's latest anti-tax push. Washingtonians (and Americans in general) don't seem to understand that, with climate change increasing, we need to spend more money -- a lot more money -- on local infrastructure. And that means paying more taxes, or forcing corporations to pay more taxes. And that means strengthening trade regulations, to keep corporations from offshoring to evade taxation and so on. And it just seems like nobody can do that basic math anymore.

@2: I agree. A severe lack of civic education is the root of some of our public policy problems in our state and beyond.

Make sure to bring up the City's South Lake Union giveaway to Vulcan, and the hypocrisy behind it. It seemed like the law was past in order to extract some quid-pro-quo from mega developers, and then it was withdrawn the very first time it should have been applied. What's up with that?

Talk about my cold and how it's lasted for almost six months. Please.

The South Lake Union thing brings to mind the old "good news/bad news" joke:

The good news is that we have the best city government money can buy.

The bad news is that we didn't buy it.

Maybe it's time to start a discussion about public financing of city elections?

Wouldn't a lot of our problems go away if we didn't have to get permission from a couple of rich developers to do anything meaningful in this town?

You could talk about the spineless Democrats in Olympia and the giant blowjob they just gave totally not gay Tim Eyman.

Say something offensive about black people.

You could bring up this week's death of the Matthew Shepard Act in Congress...

Talk about my penis. It's a big topic.

I haven't done an image search like I saw this week for Chaunaka. But Ineffabilis Deus is tomorrow if you want to talk about that.

Dont mend me though, I have an open door policy regarding a closeted and lapsed catholocism.

Danny Westneat on Mitt Romney:
"I was disappointed and I knew I would be."

How is that possible?

@11

It would be nice of you to kindly stop commenting on our blog.

yeah, when is someone besides Keith Olbermann going to call Bush on his Lying about Iran hhhmmmm?

Great job!

Pretty smooth job of handling the bikes vs. SLUT debate. You're right of course - it's actually a very positive development to be debating the merits of alternative means of transportation. But the fact remains - the bike riders, in this case, sound like a bunch of solipsistic whiners.

Ridiculous comments, Eli, on the SLUT tracks. "Oh, isn't it GREAT that we're having an argument about bikes vs. streetcar?!" There's nothing GREAT about the dangerous design of this toy choo-choo.

Oh, and when were you a bike messenger, Eli? Back when you were 22? The point is to make Seattle a bike-friendly city for ALL, not an obstacle course for 20-something bike couriers.

I'm glad Naomi Ishisaka was there to voice some sanity on this issue.

I rest my case.

I'd rather be a "solipsistic whiner" than dead. Or a Paul Allen apologist.

Hey DOUG,

Choo best just go back and hit the crack pipe, K bro?