Headline News | Emerald City Journal

Lawmakers Push to Overhaul Initiative System

Published on December 17, 2011

A group of lawmakers are going to tackle the states popular initiative system. They never have liked the idea that we the people could gather signatures and actually make something happen. They have tried every road block they can come up with to make it hard for us to make our wishes known. They can’t stand Tim Eyman because he has helped make the initiative system so public. They find every thing wrong with an initative we the people get enough signatures for that they want to start a proposed constitutional amendment to require the voters to state where the money will come from to fund what the initiative requires the state to do.

I can’t believe that for once I have to agree with the lawmakers to that extent, but not have them tinker with the system with a constitutional amendment. The voters approved training for long-term-care workers and it will cost money. Everyone including the lawmakers are going to get old or ill eventually and might need someone to care for them and since it’s a life or death situation lots of times, some training certainly is needed and should be paid for by the state. If it were some unnecessary thing we got enough signatures for like a sports stadium, a tunnel, the schools glass palace, a monstrosity of a glass library or more fancy buildings then we should state how we intended to fund them, but its not we the people doing those things it’s our lawmakers. We the taxpayers did not want those things but the lawmakers can dream up expensive crap, and they have a way to fund it. Just add a fee, a tax or whatever they feel like. So far no initiative has done anything like that so leave our process alone., but if we ever did get enough signatures for something stupid like the lawmakers have done we should say how it will be funded.

Just as the other Washington and this Washington are saying they are dead broke. cutting, slashing, cutting school years, laying off Fireman and Police etc today’s Times NWSATURDAY Dec. 17,2011 has this article stating $60M State windfall to boost preschool education. They say it’s a Federal Grant. Without getting into the preschool education needs I am pointing out if the Federal Government is broke how at this point in time can they hand out a Federal Grant of sixty million. There is no Santa Clause working there. They had to take it away from workers in some way and skim off a lot to process the amount they took from us to come up with this huge grant. Makes no sense at all. They have so many pots of money to dip into but still say they are broke. Where is the pot of gold to pay for training long care heath workers? They could find it if they wanted to but will try to screw up signature gathering to challenge the lawmakers.

Seattle Times Fund For The Needy

Published on December 17, 2011

The NWSUNDAY section of Dec 4, 2011 had a full page about how Senior Services will help disabled or elderly remain in their own homes by doing minor repair for them. The article was well written by Carol Ostrom. It all sounds wonderful and up until about two years ago what is written was basically true. I am elderly, live in an old house alone and I used that service. They did minor electrical work, minor plumbing and minor repair. I paid for all material but only had to pay $10.00 an hour for wages. We need help with repairs and can’t pay the price that plumbers and electricians charge.

For the past two years they do NOT return phone calls. The phone says leave a message. No one will ever call back. No one will answer an e mail. No one will answer snail mail. Letters do not come back saying no such address. E mails seem to go to someone because no message says they are undeliverable. I immediately e mailed Times reporter, Carol Ostrom and told her that she should check out whether this place even exists anymore and if it does and service for anyone. She thanked me and said she would check it out. This brings up the point of how much you can believe about where your money will go if you donate. The Times say all money goes to the charities so I am not faulting the Seattle Times, but if they are not checking out the places they are highlighting to tug at your heart strings and encourage you to give then it should not be collecting donations. A while back there was an article about Senior Services not being able to account for a large amount of money. Something is very wrong here. But no one wants to find out what is wrong.

I don’t think anyone should donate to the Seattle Times Fund for the Needy if they wont even check to see if a place they are collecting money for exists. How do we know if the other things they write glossy reports about exist? Don’t send money, find your own place to spend your money, a needy family or pay lay a ways, or pay someone’s rent for a month or whatever makes you feel good but don’t fall for what you read in the papers, it’s not always true.

On TV they are telling about how some people have been going in K Mart and paying off the lay-a-way accounts where people are struggling to make a Christmas for their children. That sounds like a much more sure way to help someone who really needs it. But so many places that sound good use up most of what you donate to rent a building, pay themselves and a bunch of relatives wages and sometimes almost nothing goes to where you thought your money was going. If Senior Services exist, how does a person reach them? Obviously the Seattle Times Reporter is not interested in finding out if what she wrote is true or not. Maybe someone who reads this can find out.

UPDATE (12/21/11):

This is to update the article about Senior Services and the Times fund for the needy. Since I contacted the Times the “communication dam” broke wide open. No one seems to know why they never answered my emails, phone calls and seemed to be out of business. I am really sorry I had to go that route to get their attention and actually thought they did not exist anymore.

Since then I received the following from the manager at Senior Services:

Again, I am so sorry for your troubles and would like to help rectify the situation in any way possible. I want you to know we will come fix your immediate minor home repairs at no cost even if your certification has expired. I can only imagine your frustration and I want to be sure your needs have been met. Please let me know directly what minor repairs you need and I will do whatever I can to be sure they are fixed asap at no cost to you. After these repairs are made, we will go through the regular certification process to determine your eligibility for the next three years. If you have suggestions or would prefer to have one contact for your requests for the future, I am happy to make those accommodations.

I then was contacted by two people who work at senior services to tell me I have a file there and am certified to use their service until October 2012. They contacted me to schedule a date to do my minor repairs. They would have came yesterday but I scheduled for January 12, 2010. I am sure they will do the job and always in the past the people and the workmanship were tops. I paid for material and only $10.00 and hour. It’s a great service for seniors but not if they don’t answer emails or phones. I think that has changed now. They say they changed their website but no one has a clue as to why the last year they were impossible to contact.

Polly The Georgetown Squirrel Discovers Illegal Immigrants

Published on December 16, 2011

You have all read about Polly the Georgetown squirrel by now, if not this is the time to do it. This chapter is meant to be funny and entertaining. Polly is not a Democrat or Republican so just enjoy.

In the beginning: There was a huge hazel nut tree in a yard two houses from the old lady’s house where I moved to. My Great Grandparents, Grandparents and all the siblings lived in that tree. We had a big communal nest. We had all the nuts we could eat, and bury in people’s yard for winter. Life was good. One day a bulldozer came and knocked our tree down. Tore up the yard which was our food storage. Ruined our nest. In other words just ruined our lives as we knew it. Mom and Pop were crying and told us kids there was nothing they could do to help us. Each squirrel was on his own. I had seen this bird feeder in an old lady’s yard a couple houses over and thought that would be nice. There was a huge, beautiful noble fir tree full of cones with nuts in them. I don’t know what to call them because they cant be pine cones and I never heard of noble fir cones. That’s not important anyway. I adopted the old lady and it was not hard to train her to take care of me at all. Life was getting better.

The old lady bought a squirrel sign and would put food on it by her back door. One day she put a whole bag of peanuts on it and I thought it was just for me. She meant It to be for my mom and dad or any homeless squirrels. But only squirrels. I started eating and just passed out in the bag. She pulled me out and said, “what do you have to say for yourself?. I didn’t know I had done anything wrong and said,” I cant believe I ate the whole thing”. Life was good.

I had been working full time planting sunflowers and had her yard all planted when she sent me to her rental property to work. It was a long walk, and I had to carry the seed in my mouth. I worked and worked and not a thing came up. The old lady said I was getting lazy and just eating the seed and she might just quit feeding me. I was so sad. She gave me one more chance and lo and behold I discovered the problem. That yard was full of the ugliest little white faced critters and they were digging up the seed I planted. They were tiny and I was not afraid so I said, “hi I am Polly the Squirrel, who are you?” They said we are Anchor Babies. I had never heard of an animal by that name. I told them to quit digging up my seed but they said it was my job to take care of them and furnish them with food they needed. I said well “dream on” because I am not coming over here any more at all. I think they were illegal immigrants. I told the old lady and she loved me up and said she was sorry and just eat on the back porch. She did not send back to the rental property. Life was good again.

I'm a Anchor Baby... Just trying to help

When I adopted the old lady she had two resident cats which came with the adoption package so not only did I have to train her, I had to train the cats. I don’t hate other animals but we should not hurt each other and we should pull our own weight. One cat was named Frosty(white) the other was Talulu (Tortoise color). She told me they had to get along with me and I could not eat their food, yuck cat food. They hate seeds and nuts, so we got along fine. You can see in the pictures that I eat with each of the cats, and Talulu will guard me while I nap. I know some cats kill squirrels but not these two nice cats. Frosty would kill a bird and bring it as a gift to the old lady, and that was not nice at all, but cats do that. Life was good.

Talulu takes care of me. Mom says...NO eating me Talulu!

One day a black squirrel showed up. My gosh he was different. I thought he was really bossy but the girls loved him. We called him Blacky. He said he was a community organizer and that we should share our wealth. I was about ready to challenge him to a duel when he said, “I have brought a lot of acorns”. Man I like acorns. The old lady had some once and they were soooooo good. We welcomed Blacky with open arms and all of a sudden those anchor babies were in my seed pan and on the railing and had taken over my scratching post. Still not an acorn had been brought to us squirrels. One day the Mom of the anchor babies showed up at my special spot and said she had been appointed as peace keeper and that she had a lot of acorns, so we fell for that line from Blacky. All hell broke loose on the back porch. I discovered a huge illegal immigrant napping on the corner of my deck but am afraid to introduce myself to him. Look at MY beautiful noble fir there is an illegal immigrant in it too. Nice cones are all gone. Life stinks for sure.

I'm Blacky and I brought a lot of acorns. — Blacky the community organizer

This place is RADICAL!! Free food and housing... We're staying forever.

Hey I am visiting also can I get some food? I will just be chilling here ok

While I'm here I am going to take these cones also

Seattle’s Corson Avenue War Zone – PT. 2

Published on December 16, 2011

This is a follow-up post we created when Georgetown’s Corson Ave was shut down for several months while they made it “more safe”. The Georgetown Corson Ave post had some initial photos we took. We have several more now available. This has to be one of the worst road jobs I have ever seen. They didn’t even pave the road! Now it just has a bunch of patches all over the place.

520 Bridge Toll Is Here

Published on December 9, 2011

Hope you’re ready to pay the man more because the 520 bridge toll will be starting on the 29th of December. Just another example of “thinking stuff up” to generate more revenue for the state and it’s financial troubles instead of actually fixing the root of the problem – spending. It’s been discussed on this site over and over again from different angles but it’s the norm when it comes to financial troubles. It’s just an easy fix and sell to the public I guess. I honestly believe most people are sheep and follow the crowd anyway and that is how most of this stuff is passed. With some TV ads and the use of scarcity the crowd falls for it.

If you commute and use the 520 bridge regularly like going to work daily you can expect to pay around $1,600 per year. I wouldn’t call that pocket change. It’s about $160 a month.

I guess toll are one of the new avenues for generating more money. It’s not enough that we pay for the roads with our taxes and almost 50% of your car gas is taxed. Parking in Seattle will cost you $8 dollars an hour! I predict we’ll see a lot more down the road and maybe even the viaduct when that project is completed. That would be an easy approval for the Seattle council members. Add in the HOV lane fees they are collecting now. If you’re not connected with the Good To Go program (to debit your account automatically), even more fees are applied. It’s all just crazy.

The 520 bridge toll is a slap in the face to so many people. We’ve talked about the financial planning at the Washington Department of Transportation and have proven that they can’t manage a dollar. They are worse than the USPS. This will only put more money in their pockets and even less on the roads. 1,000,000 dollars a week in fact.

What I find even more sleazy about the 520 bridge toll is that the state received a federal grant. It was a $123,000,000 million dollar ~~payday~~ grant that pays for helping subsidizing buses, toll equipment and other expenses related to the new toll. Public transport, van pools, are already except vehicles etc they don’t have to pay the toll anyway (or tabs) so really it’s just a incentive to start a new toll! Gosh $123 million dollar paycheck is a sleazy incentive to start a toll don’t you think?

Here is a good question, living in Seattle, why would anyone want to go the east side to do any shopping anymore? The reality is businesses and local sales will only decrease hurting the situation even more. If you’re from Seattle or the east side and want to shop – it’s going to cost you an extra $7 dollars. It’s almost not even worth leaving the house anymore. You can get a better deal online, pay no sales tax on it, and get free shipping.

Polly the Georgetown Squirrel

Published on November 23, 2011

Hello, my name is Polly. No I am not an alcoholic. I am addicted to people. I had been stealing sunflower seeds from a bird feeder in the front yard of a big white house in Georgetown. I had to walk along a cyclone fence rail, jump in a tree, then jump to the feeder. I had hurt my foot and was having trouble with all of that so I decided to go to the back door and see if perhaps she kept her seed where I could steal a few easier, without all the jumping and climbing. Well wouldn’t you just know my luck, there sitting on the back steps was this old lady. I had not planned on that and I was halfway up the steps. She just sat there looking at me. I thought at least she would scream and get up and go in her house but she didn’t seem afraid of me at all. Most people think of squirrels as ugly rats with bushy tails. I was pretty sure I could out run her if I had to so I just kept going up the back steps slowly waiting for her to go in her house, but she just sat there and said, “well along comes Polly”. She put her hand out palm up and kept talking to me. She told me what a nice squirrel I was and how pretty I was. I was in total shock. Nothing like that had ever happened to me. I got closer and closer and smelled her hand. She did not try to swat me or grab me. She got up slowly and kept looking back so I followed along. I was in a sort of trance. She went in her back door and came out with a handful of peanuts. She sat down again and kept talking and coaxing to walk up her stretched out leg and get a nut. I was so hungry and I just sat there and ate. She finally made me climb into her lap to get a nut. I got full and slowly went home.

The next day I still thought it had to have been a dream but decided to try it again. I went to her back door and when she saw me out she came with a dish of sunflower seeds and peanuts. This time she put her hand on my back. I was ready to protect myself but when she scratched between my shoulders it felt soooooooo good. Well after a week or so of this she got down on her hands and knees one day to get eye level with me and explained that if I was going to be a roommate I had to start to work for my food.

If you're going to stay around here Polly, you're going to have to work.

She had a dishpan of dirt and was potting little plants. I kept getting in the pan to try to help but she gave me a pan of dirt of my own and I began to raise my own sunflowers. I would eat some seed, and plant some seed.

I'm working planting seeds (and eating some). It was a lot of work.

Gosh more work for this lady. I better get some food soon.

Time went on and I was really happy. It was getting close to Christmas and I had worked so hard I thought I deserved a” Squirrels night out”. That’s the night I met Big Red. I told him where I got my food and took him home with me for the night and to the old lady’s house for breakfast. She gladly fed us both, but Big Red was not going for any petting and for sure not any work. I had to drive a sleigh in a Christmas scene but Big Red would not do it. He didn’t do things fun with me anymore but showed up for breakfast. He was just a gigolo. He even had the nerve to bring along a few friends but all got fed.

Riding the sled with Big Red. He didn't really want to play or have fun.

Eating after a big night out. This old lady takes care of me and Big Red she is so nice.

I was not feeling so chipper anymore but kept up with my job. I knew I was pregnant so I began to build a nest up above the old lady’s back porch. She had good stuff to make a nest with, like pretty plastic tale cloths with soft backing. I ripped those things to shreds.

Oh no!! I'm preggo and need to get my nest started. This will work!

I had twins and kept it a secret but when they started to leave their nest I knew she would soon find out, so I waited til one day she was sitting on her stairs again and I told the twins it’s time to see the nice lady who feeds us. I had to help them up the stairs and she sat still and I picked them up and put them in her lap. Love at first sight for everyone. She talked to the babies just like she did me so my worries were over. I had taught my babies how to get their own food. I didn’t have to teach them to climb a tree or anything. But I did have to stand guard and teach the cat that we were the boss. I sat on the railing watching and would tell the babies what to do. I use the cats scratching post for my high rise and look out.

I have something to tell you lady. These are my babies.

Yummy Mom taught us well....the food just comes to us.

Look how little I am I can fit in this pot.

Six years have gone by and I have twins a couple times a year. I am the only one that has a full time job but the whole gang of us are waiting every morning for our big pan of goodies. the other squirrels climb her leg and help themselves to nuts and let her pet them, but I am her favorite. Life is good for this Georgetown Squirrel. She brushes me with the cats brush. She makes sure I get to observe every holiday and pose with the decorations. I am a really lucky squirrel but she is a mighty lucky lady to have such a nice pet. This is a win win deal. It shows that people, squirrels, and cats can live in harmony if they try.

I always feel loved here. Happy Valentines Day!

It's scary out here. Can I come in? Please

I am so thankful. Hey where's the turkey lady.

On the lookout for Santa. Merry Christmas

Read more about the adventures of Polly and his friends here 12/16/11 (Friday).

Not So Super Committee Obviously Fails

Published on November 21, 2011

As predicted, the not so “Super Committee” has failed. It’s no big surprise to me really. It was doomed before it even started. The 12 political members of this committee are mostly to blame for this whole money problem anyway. They all have been part of the system and continue to play the game. They will continue as normal after the Holidays with their careers with no real decisions. By not making any real or hard stands (decisions) they will keep their heads off the chopping block, lay low, and continue on getting elected and playing he game every year. Collecting their big fat checks every month, richy rich health care, and pension programs that the average Joe will never end come close to achieving. It’s a shame really because they all should be fire. Every single one of them. Republicans want some cuts and the Democrats want to tax the rich.

The cuts Republican want are not enough and taxing the rich is not a viable solution. Right now 3% has been cut. That is extremely pathetic honestly. The other side, taxing the rich is just a nice way of asking for more money from the public. Burning more money in a failed system. Doesn’t fix the problem and with the currently spend that will be used up really quick. It doesn’t solve the problem at all.

So what is the solution. Personally I like Warren Buffets suggestion – here is what he said, “I could end the deficit in five minutes. You just pass a law that says that any time there’s a deficit of more than three percent of GDP, all sitting members of Congress are ineligible for re-election.”

Now that sounds like a good plan to me. Unfortunately, we will never see any laws like this because the people who would pass the law are the same people who would lose their jobs. That is not going to happen.

I like numbers so lets look at these simple U.S financial figures and recent spending cuts. This is the actual 2011 federal budget and their “BIG” spending cuts.

U.S Income: 2,170,000,000,000
Federal Budget: 3,820,000,000,000
New Debt: 1,650,000,000,000
National Debt: 14,271,000,000,000
Recent Budget Cuts: 38,500,000,000 (about 1% of budget)

To help put these numbers into perspective, lets look at a simplified real World example using the same data. I removed the zeros to make the finacial numbers and comparison easier.

Annual income for the Smith family: $21,700
Amount of money the Smith family spent: $38,200
Amount of new credit card debt: $16,500
Outstanding balance on the credit card: $142,710
Amount cut from the budget: $385

This is the lame cuts I am talking about. We need serious cuts to fix the system. It’s not about asking for more money which will only put a temporary bandaid on the bigger problem. Cut the programs, Cut the spending, and Cut the politicians not fixing or making suggestions. Put laws in place to control spending and a forcing a balance budget (with limits). Hold politicians and slacker politicians accountable.

Time to clean house and remove anyone and everyone not correcting these issues.

TeaParty Network Helps Get Us In Touch With Our Congressman

Published on November 15, 2011

November 7, 2011

Dear Representative McDermott,
Dear Senator Cantwell,
Dear Senator Murray,

As a proud member of the Tea Party movement and TheTeaParty.net and as one of your constituents I am writing you today to encourage that you support an exhaustive and complete investigation of the $535 million dollar boondoggle known as Solyndra. The American people deserve to know what happened. Why hasn’t Obama been impeached? He spends 100% of his time on the campaign trail trying to get more money. Make him say why he fast tracked the loan to Solyndra. We the people pay the price for his stupidity and it’s time to stop this. Does anyone in Washington believe the constitution is the law of the land, not some exectutive order that a man signs when it’s very quetionable he is really eligilible to even be president? Make him park Air Force One for awhile and give him an education that he is not a dictator.

Sincerely,

Lilly in Seattle

Seattle Property Taxes Just Increased

Published on November 10, 2011

Owning a home and living that “American Dream” is going to cost you double. Voters just passed a $232 million dollar education levy last Tuesday.

This yes vote (59% yes) doubles what you’re paying now and will be taken from your property taxes each year. Congratulations Seattle. I find it amazing considering all the corruption in our education system (superintendent Maria Goodloe-Johnson) or just reading all the wasted school revenue each year. We have proven that plenty of revenue is generated for the school system already. Next year (less than that I bet) we will be hearing how the school system is broke again. Bus routes will be cut. The teachers will be on the front line walking out of the classrooms because you know all the money isn’t going to support them or increase their wages at all. At least I will have something to write about and reference again here at the Emerald City Journal. It would be the first time I told you so though.

The system is broke voters you can’t fix this with more money. It’s a management problem. The top managers make all the money “managing” while the little folk teaching the children get screwed over with less money and even less support.

The only good thing about this is hopefully voters will see the light at the end of the tunnel now. They will stop funding this toilet bowl of a system where the procedures and management are so messed up. I suspect, however, next year they will pull the strings to your heart again saying “it’s for the kids & teachers” and get another passed.

Why Customers Hate Bank Of America

Published on November 10, 2011

Unfortunately, I am a Bank Of America customer. In fact, they are my mortgage company. The good news is that I am not a checking or savings account customer. First I am not sure why anyone would want to bank here and pay a monthly fee (or have to keep a large minimum) when there are so many FREE options available. I simply refuse to look at any option that isn’t free. It’s a free system why pay for it? That is just silly.

There are many reasons why customers hate Bank Of America but it’s mostly because the company is greedy. Not only are they greedy they are extremely sneaky about it. First Bank Of America is one of the largest banks in America. They are one of the worst managed companies around and continue the “cry” when they are just barely making it. Just a while ago Bank Of America changed their branch policies to not provide any support for their customers. They said a fee would be imposed they you needed to actually speak to someone. To help with this effort they updated their ATMS to make deposits etc easier. In short, they are going to to charge you the same price but not provide any real person help if you need it (well… they will help but may charge you extra for the help lol). I couldn’t believe it when they announced this new change. I figured customers would get disturbed and make the change but many stayed with this messed up business.

Recently, Bank Of America announced that they were going to charge customers $5 just to use their ATM per month. Wow I said, rolling in laughter on the floor. That is a big move and a stupid one if you ask me. This bank just continues to gouge it’s customers with sneaky and greedy fees.

I believe this really hit a nerve with a lot of customers and a Bank Transfer Day was created. The day was last Saturday actually and I heard it was a tremendous success. The credit unions who all pretty much offer free banking and higher checking interest rates were overwhelmed with new customers. After the $5 ATM monthly fee was announced by Bank Of America, they started to feel the heat. Customers were fed up and starting to move elsewhere. Bank Of America now is saying that they are not going to charge customers the $5 ATM fee. They say it was just a test program to see how customers would react and be ok with it. UMMM… no!!

This morning a Seattle Bank Of America caught on file. The fire is suspicious and we all wonder why? Really? I say let it burn.

Seattle Newspaper for the People by the People

Headline News - page 46