Smash Mouth Politics

election - King County Conservation District, 2011

2011-02-22T23:56:00.000-08:00

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Citizens' Alliance for Property Rights suggests ...

VOTE BRUCE ELLIOTT TO KING CONSERVATION DISTRICT BOARD OF SUPERVISORS

King Conservation District is a Washington State agency which serves King County. Its core mission is to provide services to property owners which will help them to be responsible stewards of their land. While the agency has a relatively modest annual budget of about $6 million, it has the ability to do and help with a lot of important projects.

CAPR urges you to vote for Bruce Elliott in the current KCD election. Mr. Elliott is a dairy farmer in the Green River valley who is an advocate for our natural and working environments and also supports private property rights. The CAPR Political Action Committee has rated Mr. Elliott "Outstanding" in this election. To learn more, please visit his website.

Note that this will be an online election. To vote, please go tohttp://www.kingcd.org/new_ele.htm to register and vote. CAPR has been told that precautions are in place to keep this a fair election and we are cautiously optimistic that it will be. For those would rather vote in person, you may do so on one day only, Tuesday March 15^thfrom 9:00 AM to 9:00 PM at the KCD office. That address is 1107 SW Grady Way, Suite 130, Renton, WA. For those voting online, you may do so until March 15^th.

KCD will only be as good as the people we elect. We have seen bad supervisors in the past squander funds on foolish projects that hurt the environment and abused property rights. We can trust Bruce Elliott to make good decisions. In the last election less than 5000 votes were cast. That makes your vote BIG. Please vote. And please pass this message along.

Jeff Wright

Secretary / CAPR PAC

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Tolerate This !!!

2010-08-18T20:59:00.000-07:00

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The answer to the contention of the Ground Zero Mosque is profoundly easy.

The underlying issue of the Mosque is American tolerance. This is easily demonstrated thusly ...

Rename the street Tolerance Avenue
Advocate the building of a gay social club on one side of the mosque.
Further, move the New York Gay Pride Parade to travel down Tolerance Avenue during the month of Ramadan.
On the other side of the mosque advocate the building of a Jewish Synagogue.
Across the street advocate the building of a Christian Church, Buddhist Temple, and other cultural centers of worship.
And don't forget the abortion clinic.

In this manner American tolerance can never again be questioned, and the brotherhood of man may celebrate their diversity together, on the same street, under the gaze of a universal, loving God who smiles down on all his children.

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Control People with Obamacare

2010-03-27T23:14:00.000-07:00

# # #

Timeline of Obamacare (PDF doc), to "control the people."

Scott Brown, Big Gov RINO??

2010-01-16T01:09:00.000-08:00

Time to embrace your inner RINO ... and kiss the Republic goodbye.

If you think Scott Brown, nominal Republican, is the solution in Massachusetts, read these first ...

(** too bad Michelle Malkin is kissing her inner RINO)

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Audit the Fed

2009-03-14T20:31:00.000-07:00

* Introducing the Federal Reserve Transparency Act, Statement of Congressman Ron Paul

* H. R. 1207, "Federal Reserve Transparency Act of 2009"

* Sign the Petition (read below); * Campaign for Liberty

March 12, 2009

Dear Friend of Liberty,

Right now, you and I are seeing the worst plundering of a nation’s wealth in the history of civilization – all led by the out of control Federal Reserve.

If you and I don’t act today, I’m afraid this crisis will end with the economic ruin of every man, woman and child in the United States.

Just think about the scope of the problem for a minute: The Fed pumps trillions of dollars in fiat currency into a system already overloaded by the massive amount of dollars committed to the economic bailouts in recent months.

This TOTALS:

More than the socialist New Deal...
More than the entire Iraq debacle...
More than the 1980’s savings and loan mess...
More than the Korean War...

COMBINED.

Where will it all end?

It’s time you and I put a stop to an out of control Federal Reserve. And Ron Paul has a bill before Congress to do just that.

That’s why it’s vital you fill out your personal "Audit the Fed" petition in support of Congressman Paul’s bill.

Today, $9.7 TRILLION in taxpayer dollars in bailouts and loans have been agreed to by Congress, the Bush and Obama Treasury Departments, and the Federal Reserve.

Poll after poll shows the American people are fed up and are ready for fresh leadership to make their voices heard in Washington.

That means it’s a perfect time to unleash the Ron Paul R3VOLUTION on the out of control Fed!

Please complete this petition urging your Congressman to cosponsor and a seek roll-call vote on Ron Paul’s Audit the Fed Bill -- the first step toward ENDING THE FEDERAL RESERVE once and for all!

As I know you’re aware, the Federal Reserve’s inner-workings are shrouded in secrecy, and their meetings are off-limits to the public.

Just recently, the Federal Reserve told Congress “NO WAY” when asked to account for TWO TRILLION DOLLARS in taxpayer-backed loans!

Well, why do you think they refused?

They know coming clean with Congress and the American people on how they doled out those two TRILLION dollars would result in an anti-Fed firestorm.

So can you imagine the impact of a full-scale audit?

You and I will finally be able to show the American people that the Federal Reserve System leads to:

*** Constant economic crises -- the housing crisis and the resulting chaos is just one example of an economic bubble created by centrally-planned interest rates and money manipulation;

*** The destruction of the middle class -- as fuel, food, housing, medical care and education costs soar, everyone who is NOT on the government dole is forced to make do with less as the value of their money slowly decreases;

*** Currency destruction -- history shows us that riots, violence and full-scale police states can result when people finally realize fiat money isn’t worth the paper it’s printed on and REFUSE to accept it.

And unless you and I do end the madness in Washington, D.C., we may be closer than we’d like to think to learning that history lesson first hand -- right here on the streets of our towns and cities.

That’s why your commitment to helping the Campaign for Liberty fight this battle is so vital.

Just a few months ago, there was no chance of passing any legislation like Ron Paul’s Audit-the-Fed Bill.

So I guess there has been one “CHANGE.”

But with the piling up of trillions of dollars in out of control “bailouts” of Wall Street and international bankers, even many politicians in Washington, D.C. want to show you they’re “being responsible”.

What better way for Congress to do this than by auditing the Federal Reserve to account for the trillions stolen from the U.S. taxpayers?

There will be many battles you and I must fight over the coming months to take back our country. But this one is set to rage in Congress in just a few short weeks.

And, it’s a bill we CAN pass!

You see, after regulating, taxing, spending, borrowing and printing us into what looks like the worst recession in decades, establishment politicians and power brokers are assuring us they are working hard to “fix” our economic woes.

So they want to do something (anything) to show you they care.

That’s why Dr. Paul’s bill is positioned to move forward this year.

And since very few politicians understand the Federal Reserve System, they do not understand the threat this bill poses to the borrow-and-spend system they continually vote for.

And even if Ron Paul’s Audit-the-Fed Bill is defeated, just forcing a vote is a win/win situation.

Can you imagine how many politicians will pay the price at the ballot box in 2010 when you and I tell the American people their Congressman somehow lost trillions of taxpayer dollars and voted against even looking for the money?

Of course, getting a vote won’t be easy, but you know just as well as I do that Ron Paul has proven he’s not afraid of a fight.

Now, we just need to show Congress that the American people demand action on Ron Paul’s Audit-the-Fed Bill. Here’s how we plan to do that:

First, we’re already busy contacting up to five million activists nationwide through mail, phones and e-mail to generate petitions to the U.S. Congress demanding action on the bill.

But that’s just the beginning.

We’ll work the talk radio stations and grant local media interviews to further turn up the pressure on Congress. And, of course, Ron Paul supporters will own the meet-up groups and social networking sites that first launched our R3volution.

And a few days before the vote, if we have the resources, we’d also like to run hard-hitting targeted radio, TV and newspaper ads.

This entire program is designed to send one, CLEAR message to Congress -- Any politician who votes against the Federal Reserve Audit should look for another job.

But such a massive effort won’t be easy -- or cheap.

So, along with your petition, I also hope you’ll agree to make a contribution of $250, $100, or $50 to the Campaign for Liberty.

I know times are hard, but if we don’t take action, the America we see in just a few years could look much different than the one we see today.

So please, fill out your petition and give a generous contribution of $250, $100, or $50 to the Campaign for Liberty IMMEDIATELY.

Please don’t just ignore this email.

Can I count on you to join the fight to ultimately END THE FED by making a generous contribution of $250, $100, $50 -- or whatever you can afford to the Campaign for Liberty?

Sincerely,

John F. Tate
President

P.S. Please fill out this petition DEMANDING your Congressman cosponsor and seek a roll-call vote on Ron Paul’s Audit-the-Fed Bill TODAY!

With Congress spending like never before, and TRILLIONS of new dollars flying off the printing presses, it’s never been more important to expose the Federal Reserve System to the American people once and for all.

So along with your petition, please contribute to Campaign for Liberty. Whether you can donate as much as $250 – or $50 or some other amount, please do what you can. I know any amount in these hard times is a sacrifice!

Campaign for Liberty operates like government should, meaning we will not go into debt. Only your voluntary contributions permit us to do this work.

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Cancer drug pricing ABUSE

2009-01-03T21:07:00.000-08:00

*** Moved to Consumer Informant ***

Please comment at the new location

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John McCain wins G-O-P award !!!

2008-07-03T19:21:00.000-07:00

Seattle Republican Precinct Committee Officer, Cary Thomas (SEA 34-1247), has awarded the first "G-O-P Award" to Senator John McCain who has declared that he will accept $84 million of public financing, for his campaign for the President.

The "Grand Old Parasite Award" is meant to recognize Republicans who use the coercive power of government to confiscate Americans' hard earned funds and use them for self-serving purposes, such as running for President.

The "Grand Old Parasite Award" is a plaque of recycled wood with an over sized (some might say "bloated") leech with the words, "I drink your milkshake", in faux gilt, inscribed below the leech. If someone strokes the leech it plays back the audio track from the famous "milkshake" scene from the award winning film, There Will Be Blood.

In many respects Senator McCain is too reminiscent of Daniel - this extended final scene reminds me of John McCain's relationship to the voters he seeks to persuade with their own public monies.

Since Cary's personal finances have been reduced to pay for the magnificent public financing, he lacks the funds to build the plaque. You are invited to send your most generous contribution to Cary's PayPal account. Your money will be used to build the plaque and have it delivered to Senator McCain. You don't really need this money, you'd just waste it on some triviality like health care, food or housing for your family.

Log into your PayPal account, choose the "Send Money" tab and send your generous contribution to Cary's email address ...
cary-cwt [a*t] exordia [d0t] net
(mark Service/Other)

Your contribution is non-refundable, just like your money used for public financing of campaigns - you'll never see it again.

When the plaque is built, Cary will post a photo so you can appreciate your investment. A note citing the number of contributors will be included with the delivery of the plaque.

If Senator McCain should decide to decline public financing, Cary will withdraw his award. Any contribution you may have sent Cary, for the plaque, will not be refunded.

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END the Mass. Income Tax

2007-11-27T13:40:00.000-08:00

Small Government News*
Tuesday, November 27, 2007

Publisher: Carla Howell
Editor: Michael Cloud

===========================================================
IN THIS ISSUE
===========================================================

-- END the Income Tax Initiative Headed For Ballot
-- Boston Globe Article
-- "Congratulations," Writes Citizens for Limited Taxation

===========================================================
END THE INCOME TAX BALLOT INITIATIVE HEADED FOR BALLOT
===========================================================

Dear Friend,

We're frazzled, fried, and fatigued.

Last week, we delivered 100,000 petition signatures for our END the
Income Tax Ballot Initiative to 351 town clerks for validation and
certification.

This week, we have to arrange pickups and shipping of these legally
validated signatures to us.

Next week - by Wednesday, December 5th - we must file our validated
petition signatures with the Massachusetts Secretary of State.

Then the fun begins. We get to show Massachusetts taxpayers and voters
the huge, immediate, direct benefits of ENDing the Income Tax in
Massachusetts. We get to tell them why they can make themselves
dramatically better off by ENDing the state income tax - and giving
3,000,000 Massachusetts workers and taxpayers $3,600 each, every year.

To donors: Thank you for giving us the tools to do the work. Your
donation got us over the hardest hurdle.

To volunteers: Thank you for helping with the labors of liberty. Your
work made a difference.

We have a long 8 days ahead of us - to get the validated petition
signatures to the Secretary of State by December 5th.

We're finishing up this part of our work to END the Income Tax - and
make government small.

We'll give you a situation and progress report later this week.

Thank you to everyone who helped.

Small government is possible,

Carla Howell & Michael Cloud

===========================================================
BOSTON GLOBE ARTICLE
===========================================================

On Saturday, November 24, The Boston Globe published an article on the
4 Ballot Initiatives qualifying for the 2008 ballot. Here are the 136
words they wrote about us:

Michael Cloud of the Committee for Small Government said his group
collected about 100,000 signatures for the income tax repeal, "enough
of a cushion to blow back any challenge." When it last appeared on the
ballot in 2002, the initiative received more than 45 percent of the
vote. Cloud predicted it would pass next year, adding that the group
plans to spend $500,000 on ads for the initiative campaign, compared
with just $90,000 five years ago.

The initiative would decimate the state budget, chopping it from about
$28 billion to $17 billion, which was about the size of the state's
1995 budget, according to Cloud. He said the average household's
savings would be about $3,600 a year.

"If the legislators feel like they need more money, they can make
their case to the people," he said.

* source

===========================================================
"CONGRATULATIONS," WRITES CITIZENS FOR LIMITED TAXATION
===========================================================

"The last time Carla and her Small Government organization put [the
END the Income Tax Initiative] on the 2002 ballot over the objections
of the Legislature, it garnered over 45 percent of the vote -- the
result of which probably kept Beacon Hill from even thinking about
hiking the income tax rate," wrote Chip Ford in the CLT Newsletter.

"What an achievement, in this 'busy people' climate!" wrote Barbara
Anderson in a message.

For 33 years, Citizens for Limited Taxation (CLT) has worked to
reduce, restrain, and restrict Massachusetts taxes. Under the
leadership of Chip Ford, Barbara Anderson, and Chip Faulkner, CLT has
been "the Voice of Massachusetts Taxpayers."

http://www.cltg.org/cltg/clt2007/07-11-24.htm

++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

To be sure you continue to receive Small Government News* please add
the email address in the "From" field of this email message to your
address book or safe sender list. Thank you.

++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

2007 Copyright Carla Howell and Michael Cloud
small government is possible*, small government is beautiful*, Small
Government Pledge* and Small Government News* are Service Marks (SM)
of Carla Howell and Michael Cloud.

++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

To SUBSCRIBE to Small Government News*, please click here:
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Please keep your email address current so we keep you abreast of the
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To CHANGE your email address or to UNsubscribe, please copy your
current subscription address from here:

and paste it next to "Email to unsubscribe" on this web page:
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(If you forward this issue of Small Government News* to a friend, we
recommend that you delete the end of this email starting with "Please
keep your email address current..." - which contains your email
address - to protect yourself from SPAM.)

Starting Technorati

2007-10-31T20:23:00.000-07:00

Firing up Technorati with this blog ...

Technorati Profile

KING CONSERVATION DISTRICT ELECTION

2007-02-06T19:53:00.000-08:00

Citizens' Alliance for Property Rights urges you to get out and vote for Matt Livengood. You must go to one of the 7 polling places.

From the KCGOP Weekly Newsletter (email), Feb 1, 2007 ...

KING CONSERVATION DISTRICT ELECTION
TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 13, 2007

Remember this election from last year? This is the one where all King County voters (except for the following five cities: Federal Way, Enumclaw, Milton, Pacific and Skykomish) are eligible but only seven polling places are open across the county. Last year Ron Sims tried to change the composition of the board by promoting an unqualified liberal candidate. He failed but he’s trying it again. Please support the incumbent, Matt Livengood by voting this Tuesday.

You can find the seven polling places here. Matt Livengood’s candidate questionnaire is here (PDF) and his opponent, Ron Sims’ candidate, Max Prinsen’s candidate questionnaire is here (PDF).

For more information:
http://www.kingcd.org
http://www.scc.wa.gov
425-277-5581 x103

Seattle Viaduct - crash and burn preview

2006-06-27T15:16:00.000-07:00

Least anyone wonder what traffic would be like if any of the tear down options (even for a tunnel, completed years later) become reality for the Seattle Viaduct, you need to look no further than the sad "crash and burn" that killed 3 people on the upper West Seattle bridge, closing the bridge for hours during morning rush hour commute. Don't worry, just go home ... businesses won't survive, either.

Or traffic can keep rolling with the retrofit option. And you'll save a boat load of money to spend on trivialities like health care and food, for your family.

[ seattle viaduct tunnel retrofit ]

Mercy killing of Seattle ( Sept ballot )

2005-09-10T17:54:00.000-07:00

Let's just face reality about Seattle - there are no good options for limited government, or even slowly growing government.

Once you accept that reality, you realize the only path that may lead to more Liberty is through the heart of the beast. Seattle voters must first destroy this City before any other alternative can become viable.

Toward that long range vision (perhaps after I'm long dead), I will be voting Sept 20 for the most extreme Socialists possible ...

Mayor - Hoeppner; or Wood for diluted greater guv'ment

Council #2 - Madenwald

Council #4 - Averill

Council #8 - Pelz

Any other votes for more "moderate" or weak Socialism only delays the economic collapse of Seattle. My votes will work to rapidly expand massive guv'ment intrusion into every aspect of life in Seattle. Businesses will flee the City in droves when a mandatory "living wage" of $17 per hour is passed (Averill / Wood - unspecified $$ ) - imagine how much a McDonald's meal will cost !!

People take their Liberty for granted; or define neo-Liberty as equal access to "entitlements". They need to understand what it is really like to lose that Liberty in the most extreme way possible.

There are no good alternatives for Liberty on the Seattle ballot in 2005. So let them eat their Socialist cake - make Seattle choke on it.

Voter's pamphlet

Consider it a mercy killing.

Citizen's Audit Parallel Election

2005-09-03T22:54:00.000-07:00

I ran across this very interesting citizen's project in another message list.

As a non-partisan entity, this might be something that needs to be established in King County, considering the 2004 elections failure here.

http://www.studycaliforniaballots.org

rawstory.com - San Diego recount

A Citizen's Audit Parallel Election project is not in itself conclusive, but may suggest where test recounts should be conducted (of the original ballots), by means other than the machine count.

Of course, if enough citizen's don't show an interest to volunteer then the project is moot.

Credibility for this kind of project can only happen if ALL political persuasions are invited to participate - Republican, Democrat, Libertarian, Socialist, Urban, Rural, etc. Ballot
integrity CANNOT be a partisan issue.

If you know of any such CAPE happening in King County, please email me,

freerangeauthor [a*t] exordia (d0t) net

Republicans can defeat Sims in Primary (strategic voting)

2005-09-03T22:16:00.000-07:00

Sept. 7, 2005 Update: Stefan Sharkansky of Sound Politics is "crossing over" on his Primary ballot to elect the weakest Dem KC Exec !!
___________________________________________

Dear Republicans and Conservatives,

This Primary presents an opportunity to defeat Ron Sims in the Primary if R voters will cast their vote strategically.

I am a voter in the 34th LD and KC (King County) 8th Council District.

I am writing to propose an opportunity for Republicans to consider in certain King County districts, for partisan office, in the Primary.

For several districts there will be no contested, Republican partisan offices, such as the 8th KC Council district. R's will have no one to vote for, or the R candidate only needs 1% to proceed to the general election.

This presents the opportunity for R voters to cross over and select the Democrat ballot in the Primary. This could be very useful to vote for Ron Sims OPPONENT. This is how I will proceed with my ballot, and I am suggesting the procedure to other R's I know in my district - they seem very receptive to the idea, as a means to suppress Sims Primary returns, or possibly, defeat Sims in the Primary. R voters only need to mark a Dem ballot for Sims opposing candidate (I plan to mark Rispoli; see below), they do not have to mark any other Dem position - or if you're really concerned about ballot meddling, mark the write-in bubble and write "none" so they can't re-mark for other Dem positions.

Obviously this strategy cannot be considered for the 9th Council District because of the challenged R seat, but several other districts could use this strategy without impact on the R candidates to reach the General ballot.

KC districts 3, 4, 6, and 8 have no candidate of the opposing party - those districts could liberate thousands of R voters to cross over and vote for Sims OPPONENT in the Primary.

A very quick review of Primary election returns shows these numbers, as a limited example ...

2003 Primary
KC District 6 - 17588 votes for the R candidate; no opponent

2002 Primary
KC District 8 - 5102 votes for non-Dem candidates (R & L)

I view Rispoli as the weakest Dem candidate possible. She wrote, "I will not be accepting any money. My sole purpose for running was/is to put a message out in pamphlet", on her Candidate Registration (C-1). [ view reports on http://www.pdc.wa.gov/viewreports/ ] She does not respond to email queries. [Sept. 7 : read Rispoli's pamphlet statement - delightfully weird]

David Irons, the unopposed KC Exec Republican candidate, will get enough votes from the 9th KC Council District to move to the November ballot. All other KC Council districts may be able to allow R voters to cross over to the Dem ballot in the Primary.

Please share this strategy with as many R voters as possible. Forward my message. The absentee ballots are arriving in the mail this weekend (we got ours Friday, Sept. 2).

Let's defeat Sims in the Primary and get the weakest candidate possible versus David Irons.

"Effing Unreadable" Award

2005-05-21T13:35:00.000-07:00

I am forced to inaugurate a new award for illegible web sites, after two Washington State media sources adopt micro-fonts.

Criteria for the "Effing Unreadable" are ...

1) screen fonts of 10 point or less
2) fonts won't resize in the client browser (The first 2 winners won't resize in IE 6.x)
3) client reading glasses don't ease the pain of trying to read what the web site has posted in micro-font.

If you're over 40 with declining vision (requiring reading glasses, or other assist), these web sites are not "user friendly".

The first winners are The Stranger.com and the Evergreen Freedom Foundation. There is little satisfaction knowing these two organizations are politically polarized, since they have both decided to put a "Go Away!" sign on their web sites, to an aging populace that needs reading glasses to function. Both the "progressive" and "conservative" ends of the political spectrum have decided to disrespect a whole new demographic - the visually declining. The market place means little to these folk.

I guess that's why I've become Libertarian in my latter days (now 48, and counting).

See award photos in the messages below ...

[ Update: a reader directed me to an IE 6.x setting - Go to Tools, Internet Options, click Accessibility button, check mark "Ignore fonts sizes specified on Web pages". Now you should be able to fiddle with font sizes in the browser. But the layout may become very strange regarding alignments. My awards still stand since the vendors force a default micro-font that makes me dig deep into settings so I can read their great wisdom. A pox on their design defaults. ]

###

2005-05-21T13:15:00.000-07:00

Evergreen Freedom Foundation ( effwa.org ) is the co-winner of the first Smash Mouth Politics "Effing Unreadable" Award for illegible web site. The Stranger.com is the other winner (see other message)

2005-05-21T13:09:00.000-07:00

The Stranger.com is the co-winner of the first Smash Mouth Politics "Effing Unreadable" Award for illegible web site. Evergreen Freedom Foundation is other co-winner (see other message).

Is it safe? (said the dentist)

2005-05-14T21:20:00.000-07:00

[ homeland security ]

Two major events occurred recently that highlight the sad American response to perceived threats. In both cases the sad American response is to "feel better" about the situation without really making any significant improvement in security.

"Feeling better" is a childish substitute for learning from history, when trying to develop an effective public policy.

Part One: "Run Away, Run Away !!!"

Security at America's capitol ( DC ) appears to have been planned by the authors of "Monty Python and the Holy Grail". This marvelous comedy ( the movie, not the guv'ment; although it's sometimes hard to tell the difference ) has several scenes where the Grail questers respond to threats by screaming in unison, "Run Away, Run Away!!!" and then doing what they scream.

With a new, massive Homeland Security bureaucracy this was the best they could do when a small plane violated the security airspace around Washington, DC.

Why is it more safe for everyone to run OUT INTO THE OPEN?

As a lay person I've come to realize that security is based on a priority of responses based on the engagement of the threat.

There used to be a time when the threat of a flying bomb caused us to build and occupy reinforced bunkers. Civilians in WWII London built their own below ground bunkers in their yards if they couldn't get to the underground mass transit tunnels.

What happened to all those nuclear bunkers, for congress critters, from the cold war?

If they lack the bunkers, might it be a good idea to retreat INSIDE the buildings with the most inert mass (heavy stone)?

This would seem to me a better priority than running into the open before the approaching predator has struck. I'm sure many predators would appreciate their prey exposing themselves, so the predator could change course and not have to fight past any substantial barrier, to kill the meat.

[ May 21, 2005: even if the congress critters were running outside to get into bunkers, this doesn't seem such a hot idea. These teens figured out a neat scheme to kill their fellow students - don't you think the adult predators could use the same tactic? With all the billions of Federal debt spending your children will have to pay for, might a few secured tunnels be better than an open air sniper arcade? ]

Once a predator has struck his select prey, a stampede (to the next available defensive position) becomes appropriate, as a second priority. Once the predators of Columbine High School had penetrated INTO the first defense (school building), a student stampede AWAY might have saved many - yet they did just the wrong response, locking themselves into the building, becoming a captive buffet to the predators who could crack the shell.

But maybe I'm objecting to the "Run Away!!!" scheme too much - if our reps can be picked off easier, we'll have the term limits many have been calling for, to improve our Republic.

Part Two: Identify the Innocent ( all others lie )

In close conjunction with the "Run Away!!!" security paradigm, Congress adopted Real ID (isn't that a GREAT "feel good" name? You haven't been "real" until the guv'ment told you) which creates a de facto national / universal Federal ID - the particular State ID forms may vary, but it's all linked to a central Federal database.

Of course it's all to improve YOUR security.

Again, as a lay person, I've learned these things about a central, mandatory guv'ment ID ...

1) The Nazis made everyone carry "papers" in the Motherland and the occupied territories, yet the armed resistance still persisted, blowing up or otherwise destroying stuff the Nazis didn't want destroyed. If the Nazis couldn't stop armed violence against the state with universal ID, why do we think the glorious American guv'ment can do any better? Just because we're the "good guys?"

2) ALL the Sept. 11 terrorists had US guv'ment issued identity papers - they may have stayed beyond the time limits specified in the documents, but they had the paperwork to prove it.

Guess what, boyz and gurlz, Real ID will just raise the price, or change the tactics, predators use to get that same ID that says the guv'ment recognizes them. "Sleeper" predators will work very hard to have a "clean" identity outside the US, then get the appropriate American papers.

Or save the hassle and just idle across our southern border with enough portable funds to do their damage.

Have you EVER heard of people "branding" the predators to protect the herds? No, it's always the herds that get branded so their owners know who belongs to which owner. Predators don't apply for valid ID; or do so under false, "clean" identity - the wolf wears the most attractive sheep skin.

Here's an idea: all the DC critters can run outside and wave their Real ID as the predators home in on the meat outside of it's shell.

A final movie allusion: Homeland Security has become the "dentist" from The Marathon Man who drills into the protagonist's tooth marrow (with no pain killer) while repeatedly asking, "Is it safe?" The protagonist has no idea why he's being tortured, or being asked "Is it safe?".

Homeland Security is drilling deep into my family's funds, and I have no idea how they are keeping me safe. What I'm seeing doesn't convince me.

At least the threats are color coded - that "feels good". Maybe that would help in Israel, color code the Palestinian threat?

Maybe Feng Shui could have saved the Titanic? What's that saying about "rearranging the deck chairs?"

###

Ignoring market demographics

2005-05-14T16:33:00.000-07:00

You may wonder why this topic is posted here.

Evergreen Freedom Foundation touts itself as a defender of market place solutions rather than government dictates ( coercing virtue ), and I do agree. For one year I was an EFF subscriber.

It would be nice if EFF would pay attention to market demographics when it designs its web site ...

I sent this message ...
___________________ May 11, 2005
As a 48 year old who now uses reading glasses I am getting very tired of web sites that have unnecessarily small text that cannot be resized by the browser font adjustment.

Your 10 point or less font size is difficult to read. What I can't read easily, I don't contribute to.

Get a clue that not all your readers are 20 - something with the vision of eagles.

For all it's many other deficits, www.thestranger.com gets its display correct.

[ May 21, 2005: within days of my commendation of The Stranger as an example of a legible web site, The Stranger must have hired the fellows from effwa.org to inflict their design standards on another market demographic. Now The Stranger web pages suck as bad or worse than Evergreen Freedom Foundation. So I have awarded both my new "Effing Unreadable" Award for illegible web sites - see my 2 messages with photos above. ]

If you want people to subscribe to your organization, make your service accessible to an aging population with declining vision.

I won't be considering sending any $$$ until you improve your web site display.

Your "multimedia" specialist and assistant are earning degrees at media schools whose customers will always be younger than 30? Someone is not paying attention to American age demographics.

Getting old sux big time. Don't aggravate nature's failing by catering to a minority demographic - those with youthful vision.

West Seattle

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