Lou B @ 8:41 am: I think that Inslee already knows it is dead, that is why he vetoed the inadequate funding given to the CRC in the Transportation bill. It allows him to have the last say and gives him an opportunity to damage the Repubs: they will be blamed for the bridge failure.
If you are going down in a swirling maelstrom, take the guy you hate the most with you. Brilliant move on Inslee's part.
So, I think the chances are very slim-to-none now.
roger: The citizens in favor of LR/Bridge outnumbered those who spoke against it. It may be moot, anyway, but, just wanted to clarify.
The real purpose of this mega project? Shake up the Clark County commuter car culture and force them into public transit. That is the only way to mitigate the bottle necks on I 5. We will have to wait for the North County die hards to die hard and off, I guess. Younger residents are probably not so much opposed to public transportation.
At the BOCC meeting yesterday, Madore alluded to an informant (Bill Turlay?) who gave him a heads up about discussions that involved C-Tran ceding financial responsibility of LR O and M to the City of Vancouver. I want to hear more about this, and i am sure we all will soon enough.
timerick: Good for you for hanging in and fighting for the posterity of your good business. Everything is so uncertain and we work hard so that our children can carry it on. We do the same in our small business.
As much as I gripe about Vancouver, I am so heartened by the way folks work together to draw attention to an issue, whatever it is. Sometimes it works. Sometimes it doesn't. But the failures don't act as a deterrent and that tells me a lot about strength and resiliency.
I don't think I would find the same commitment to community advocacy elsewhere. I have been looking for places to relocate and have come up short so far. :)
Drift: Believe me, I have asked myself those questions, too. That is why it is a fine line as I mention in a previous post.
The crux of the issue, for me, is this: journalists are just about the ONLY group of professionals who do not answer to a licensing board or governing body. They are supposed to be good self-policemen and women. To regulate them is an assault on the First Amendment so, for the public good, they promise to regulate themselves.
Problem: a few journalists are irresponsible and take advantage of this freedom. If you or I are the victim of this, we have little recourse because the Press is eliminating their ombudsmen and women and states are adopting anti-slapp laws (and this crazy Uniform Corrections act).
The bar for defamation is high. Public figures, like Temple's targets, have a great deal of difficulty proving defamation.
I am no lawyer and this topic is way beyond my training and expertise. There have been court decisions that have determined that bloggers are journalists and are protected by the same laws as journalists. Some courts have decided otherwise.
I do know that, if I had laced my professional reports with some of the "lies of omission" and obfuscation I see in some journalists' work, I would risk losing my professional license. The First Amendment is very protective of just about anything and responsible journalists don't abuse that.
The majority of journalists do good work and the public relies on them to shine a light on government abuses. The few bad apples who don't follow SPJ ethics are tarnishing the entire profession. Their colleagues should shun them and run them out on a rail. it is criminal, in my view, to be handed such freedom and then take advantage of it.
As for Holder's DOJ: they have a bad habit of overstepping their boundaries and bullying, in my opinion. They are very powerful and abuse it. Just anecdotal evidence from my limited knowledge base, but my opinion, nonetheless. :) Think Jason Swarz.
Lou B and staff: Gov Inslee signed the Uniform Corrections Act yesterday, too, but it got lost in the shuffle. It takes effect July 28. It will change how you respond to corrections requests/demands. I think it stinks. The only entity that benefits from this? The publisher. Who loses? Front line reporters (who may be strong-armed into hasty corrections by their editor/managers) and defamed citizens (who cannot recover true damage to reputation). This, plus Anti-Slapp, has killed defamation suits in this state. Only North Dakota was rash enough to pass such a bill. What good company we keep.
Speaking of the Press, I am deeply disturbed by the DOJ investigation into James Rosen of Fox News. The DOJ is over-reaching again (what is with the Holder administration?) and now going after reporters doing their investigative jobs. This issue has unified persons of all political stripes. The DOJ claims they have "probable cause" to charge Rosen with serious crimes.
Google James Rosen and the DOJ. This is something we all should worry about.
What a fine line we balance between Freedom of the Press (DOJ is trying to muzzle that) and citizen protection of false and defamatory journalism.
Responsible journalists don't defame. But.......there are a few who do.
timerick: I understand your concern about LR construction when you have service trucks needing to get back and forth over the Columbia. Arnada Naturals, a little shop that used to be on Broadway, moved to Main recently because they were going to be losing all their customer street parking to LR tracks. You cannot do that: you own the building and your operation is so much bigger and more complicated. No wonder you are worried: your life's work is in the balance.
Wallis Engineering, in the old Lucky Lager building, is tapped for demolition because The Hilton does not want a 2 story parking structure ruining its views. So the CRC agreed to increase the footprint of the parking down, rather than up, killing this historic building that the Wallis family restored for their business. They are fighting that. You might want to chat with Gillian Wallis, who shows up at a lot of the City Council meetings. You might already have. Find out who her lawyer is. A consultation is usually free.
More explanation here from Rachel LaCorte, AP reporter (published in the Seattle Times):
**Inslee said that the veto of the funding money for the Columbia River Crossing shouldn't "be taken at all that we can't move forward." "It would be foolish to turn down $850 million in federal money when they recognize we're going to end up paying more for this project if we don't do it this year," Inslee said. "Washington taxpayers will have to shell out more tax dollars to deal with this bridge if we don't take this option that is available to us today."**
Hey, all: You have seen that Gov Inslee vetoed the CRC portion of the transportation bill today because he felt it was a waste of money to spend on more planning when there is nothing there for building.
Any thoughts on his strategy? He just has to have something up his sleeve. What is it?
When a journalist's sources lie and the reporter refuses to take responsibility for inadequate fact-checking: The Jon Karl Benghazi email debacle.
Why do other reporters circle the wagons, rather than encouraging their colleague to be accountable? (SPJ ethical rule: accountability) It reflects poorly on the entire organization.
Open forum, May 20-26
Lou B @ 8:41 am: I think that Inslee already knows it is dead, that is why he vetoed the inadequate funding given to the CRC in the Transportation bill. It allows him to have the last say and gives him an opportunity to damage the Repubs: they will be blamed for the bridge failure.
If you are going down in a swirling maelstrom, take the guy you hate the most with you. Brilliant move on Inslee's part.
So, I think the chances are very slim-to-none now.
May 22, 2013 at 9:26 a.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
Open forum, May 20-26
roger: The citizens in favor of LR/Bridge outnumbered those who spoke against it. It may be moot, anyway, but, just wanted to clarify.
The real purpose of this mega project? Shake up the Clark County commuter car culture and force them into public transit. That is the only way to mitigate the bottle necks on I 5. We will have to wait for the North County die hards to die hard and off, I guess. Younger residents are probably not so much opposed to public transportation.
At the BOCC meeting yesterday, Madore alluded to an informant (Bill Turlay?) who gave him a heads up about discussions that involved C-Tran ceding financial responsibility of LR O and M to the City of Vancouver. I want to hear more about this, and i am sure we all will soon enough.
May 22, 2013 at 6:53 a.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
Open forum, May 20-26
timerick: Good for you for hanging in and fighting for the posterity of your good business. Everything is so uncertain and we work hard so that our children can carry it on. We do the same in our small business.
As much as I gripe about Vancouver, I am so heartened by the way folks work together to draw attention to an issue, whatever it is. Sometimes it works. Sometimes it doesn't. But the failures don't act as a deterrent and that tells me a lot about strength and resiliency.
I don't think I would find the same commitment to community advocacy elsewhere. I have been looking for places to relocate and have come up short so far. :)
May 21, 2013 at 9:53 a.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
Open forum, May 20-26
Aaron Swarz. Sorry. RIP:
[link text][1]
[1]: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aaron_Sw...
May 21, 2013 at 9:46 a.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
Open forum, May 20-26
Drift: Believe me, I have asked myself those questions, too. That is why it is a fine line as I mention in a previous post.
The crux of the issue, for me, is this: journalists are just about the ONLY group of professionals who do not answer to a licensing board or governing body. They are supposed to be good self-policemen and women. To regulate them is an assault on the First Amendment so, for the public good, they promise to regulate themselves.
Problem: a few journalists are irresponsible and take advantage of this freedom. If you or I are the victim of this, we have little recourse because the Press is eliminating their ombudsmen and women and states are adopting anti-slapp laws (and this crazy Uniform Corrections act).
The bar for defamation is high. Public figures, like Temple's targets, have a great deal of difficulty proving defamation.
I am no lawyer and this topic is way beyond my training and expertise. There have been court decisions that have determined that bloggers are journalists and are protected by the same laws as journalists. Some courts have decided otherwise.
I do know that, if I had laced my professional reports with some of the "lies of omission" and obfuscation I see in some journalists' work, I would risk losing my professional license. The First Amendment is very protective of just about anything and responsible journalists don't abuse that.
The majority of journalists do good work and the public relies on them to shine a light on government abuses. The few bad apples who don't follow SPJ ethics are tarnishing the entire profession. Their colleagues should shun them and run them out on a rail. it is criminal, in my view, to be handed such freedom and then take advantage of it.
As for Holder's DOJ: they have a bad habit of overstepping their boundaries and bullying, in my opinion. They are very powerful and abuse it. Just anecdotal evidence from my limited knowledge base, but my opinion, nonetheless. :) Think Jason Swarz.
May 21, 2013 at 9:44 a.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
Open forum, May 20-26
Lou B and staff: Gov Inslee signed the Uniform Corrections Act yesterday, too, but it got lost in the shuffle. It takes effect July 28. It will change how you respond to corrections requests/demands. I think it stinks. The only entity that benefits from this? The publisher. Who loses? Front line reporters (who may be strong-armed into hasty corrections by their editor/managers) and defamed citizens (who cannot recover true damage to reputation). This, plus Anti-Slapp, has killed defamation suits in this state. Only North Dakota was rash enough to pass such a bill. What good company we keep.
Speaking of the Press, I am deeply disturbed by the DOJ investigation into James Rosen of Fox News. The DOJ is over-reaching again (what is with the Holder administration?) and now going after reporters doing their investigative jobs. This issue has unified persons of all political stripes. The DOJ claims they have "probable cause" to charge Rosen with serious crimes.
Google James Rosen and the DOJ. This is something we all should worry about.
What a fine line we balance between Freedom of the Press (DOJ is trying to muzzle that) and citizen protection of false and defamatory journalism.
Responsible journalists don't defame. But.......there are a few who do.
May 21, 2013 at 8:06 a.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
Open forum, May 20-26
Uncertain times in so many ways.
timerick: I understand your concern about LR construction when you have service trucks needing to get back and forth over the Columbia. Arnada Naturals, a little shop that used to be on Broadway, moved to Main recently because they were going to be losing all their customer street parking to LR tracks. You cannot do that: you own the building and your operation is so much bigger and more complicated. No wonder you are worried: your life's work is in the balance.
Wallis Engineering, in the old Lucky Lager building, is tapped for demolition because The Hilton does not want a 2 story parking structure ruining its views. So the CRC agreed to increase the footprint of the parking down, rather than up, killing this historic building that the Wallis family restored for their business. They are fighting that. You might want to chat with Gillian Wallis, who shows up at a lot of the City Council meetings. You might already have. Find out who her lawyer is. A consultation is usually free.
May 21, 2013 at 7:49 a.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
Open forum, May 20-26
More explanation here from Rachel LaCorte, AP reporter (published in the Seattle Times):
**Inslee said that the veto of the funding money for the Columbia River Crossing shouldn't "be taken at all that we can't move forward."
"It would be foolish to turn down $850 million in federal money when they recognize we're going to end up paying more for this project if we don't do it this year," Inslee said. "Washington taxpayers will have to shell out more tax dollars to deal with this bridge if we don't take this option that is available to us today."**
May 20, 2013 at 5:57 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
Open forum, May 20-26
Hey, all: You have seen that Gov Inslee vetoed the CRC portion of the transportation bill today because he felt it was a waste of money to spend on more planning when there is nothing there for building.
Any thoughts on his strategy? He just has to have something up his sleeve. What is it?
May 20, 2013 at 5:49 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
Open forum, May 20-26
When a journalist's sources lie and the reporter refuses to take responsibility for inadequate fact-checking: The Jon Karl Benghazi email debacle.
Why do other reporters circle the wagons, rather than encouraging their colleague to be accountable? (SPJ ethical rule: accountability) It reflects poorly on the entire organization.
Someone explain it to me, please.
Just to change the subject:
[link text][1]
[1]: http://pressthink.org/2013/05/jon-kar...
May 20, 2013 at 12:18 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )