Homestead Book Company
the oldest counter-culture book distributor in the world
Now Archie McPhee leaves Ballard to make room for even more condos
Dec 22nd
The world’s most unique toy store Archie McPhee’s has lost its lease after ten years in Ballard. They will be moving to 45th and Stoneway in Wallingford, only a few blocks from where they started.
So let’s get this correct. Once more a greedy landlord has sold his land to some condo developers. But of course there won’t be any condos built anytime soon because the market is already flooded. They have already torn down our Denny’s and our Sunset Bowl to make room for condos that may or may not ever be built. Logic doesn’t figure in here anymore in Ballard.
Meantime, here are some pictures taken Sunday, December 21st, during the heaviest snowstorm I can remember hitting this area. You can see things were pretty dead in Sunset Hill and Ballard. On the busiest shopping day of the year not much was happening. This is a heavy blow for retailers already hit hard by the recession.
24th St. & Market
The locks were completely deserted
Sunset Hill’s Business District
Neighbors on 34th St. took over the street
My new home
Dori Monson doesn’t know everything
Nov 19th
Today Dori Monson kept playing a clip from Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa. It was Dori’s theory that Mayor Villaraigosa was ignorant, which he hoped to illustrate by quoting a line wherein the Mayor says people need to talk about gay rights at their churches and shuls.
Dori said he didn’t know what a “shul” was and kept making jokes about it. He was obviously thinking that the Mayor meant to say “school,” but instead he just proved his own ignorance. “Shul” is the Jewish word for Synagogue.
I sent him an email to help him out, but he ignored it, probably because it would have ruined his point. And as we all know, Dori is never wrong.
UPDATE: Dori mentioned receiving some email that Shul was a Jewish synagogue. He said he had thought about that, but dismissed it because he didn’t think that was what the mayor was talking about. This just minutes after he said he had never heard of the word Shul. The man is simply incapable of admitting a mistake.
Sarah Palin is NOT the hottest governor
Nov 12th
I think Jennifer Granholm of Michigan is.
Not only that, Mrs. Palin, but she’s smart, having a law degree from Harvard.
Unfortunately for us and fortunately for Sarah, Mrs. Granholm can’t run for President. She was born in Vancouver, BC, Canada.
Ballard’s new projects: empty lots galore.
Nov 12th
Developers in Ballard were so anxious to tear down our historic Denny’s, that as soon as the effort to save it was over they immediately demolished the building. Months later, the empty lot remains and now the developer has belated realized that nobody in Ballard wants more condos.
Read the entire story here: Ballard News Tribune
Hell, they haven’t even been able to sell the hundreds of condos they have already built.
And now the same thing has happened to the Sunset Bowl, which sits there forlornly after so many years of entertaining Ballardites.
Now Ballard has no Denny’s, no Sunset Bowl, no QFC, and no monorail either.
Thank you, developers, for once again screwing with this beautiful neighborhood.
What’s the matter with Alaska anyway?
Nov 5th
I haven’t posted much during this wonderful election period, mainly because I kept busy reading all the other blogs out there. I wish to commend FiveThirtyEight.com especially for educating me about the polls. Because I’ve been reading them all along, I absolutely knew that Obama had won when Pennsylvania, and then Ohio, went Blue. At that point it was just a matter of waiting for the polls to close on the west coast, which is exactly what happened.
As it turned out, Virginia or Florida could have won the election for Obama by counting their votes faster, but instead the western states had the honor of putting Obama over 270 electoral votes.
The only place the polls didn’t even come close to predicting correctly was Alaska. Polls had shown that Senator Stevens was going to lose by at least 20 points, as well as Congressman Young. Instead, it appears that both of these corrupt politicians were re-elected by Alaska voters.
It appears that Alaskan voters are a perverse example of the Bradley effect, namely that they were ashamed to tell the pollsters that they were going to vote for Stevens and Young. Instead they told the pollsters one thing and ended up voting Republican instead.
What is wrong with Alaska anyway? Well, to begin with, Alaskans are beautiful beautiful and I love them and their state a great deal. But let’s face it, they are misfits. That’s one reason they live up there. Politically they are totally screwed-up. They claim to be Republicans and Libertarians, but everybody up there is on welfare, supported by the federal government, and jealous of their oil rebates. We are supporting them.
Well, they are deluded people, re-electing two very corrupt politicians. Stevens will probably not even be allowed to take his oath of office. Instead he will be forced to quit, perhaps he will even go to prison, and then a new senator will be appointed by Governor Sarah Palin. What do you want to bet that she will appoint Todd?!!!
Don’t let Rossi be our Palin
Oct 29th
Chuck Dodd, the NBC News analyst was on television last night saying that if Dino Rossi was to win the election for Washington State Governor, he would immediately be a national figure in the Republican Party. He would thus join Sarah Palin and Bobby Jindal in that small and very rare pantheon of Republican figures who won an election.
We cannot let Dino Rossi become an embarrassment to Washington State just like Sarah Palin is to Alaska. He is a loser, having achieved about as much in his life as George W. Bush did before he was elected, in other words very little of substance, and nothing without a great deal of help from rich friends.
I don’t know about you, but I don’t want to have to explain why we elected Rossi instead of re-electing a very competent Governor Chris Gregoire. Rossi’s allies have been saying the most deplorable made-up stories about her, such as that she has allowed sex offenders to run amock, has raised taxes, and has sold out our state to Indian casinos. None of this is remotely true, but they don’t care.
Let’s not let these rightwing organizations elect our governor and make our state the laughing stock of the country! Re-elect Christine Gregoire.
Sweet Revenge – Aubrey McClendon loses $1.8 billion!
Oct 14th
Aubrey McClendon was one of the partners in the group of rich energy thugs who stole the Seattle Supersonics and moved them to Oklahoma City.
People in Seattle were also incensed when they learned that he was a leading benefactor to the Swift Boat Campaign which is credited for swinging the 2004 Presidential election to a fellow wildcatter, George W. Bush. Not only that, but he was active in anti-gay marriage causes, which did not endear him to progressive citizens of Seattle either.
Well now comes the news from StreetInsider.com and the Wall Street Journal that McClendon was a big loser when he had to cover some margin calls on his own company’s stock, Chesapeake Gas Company. His total loss was $1.8 billion!
As the Insider asks, why did Aubrey McClendon have to buy stock in his own company on margin? Because he was GREEDY!
Good riddance, Mr. McClendon. I hope you can live on the mere $400 million you have left.
Another way at looking at recent polls and an update on Levi Johnson
Oct 13th
If you are a reader of the Reverend Moon-owned Washington Times, you might be surprised that most pundits are giving Obama a huge electoral college lead right now. According to the Times the race is rather close, 212 to 200 Electoral Votes.
How do they get those results? Well they still list the following toss-up states: Colorado, Wisconsin, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Nevada and Virginia. Since almost everybody else has already given those states to Obama, that will do it.
Oh, and while you are visiting the Washington Times you could catch up with the latest news on Levi Johnson, the poor sap who got Sarah Palin’s daughter pregnant and now has to marry her. According to Levi, they were planning to get married anyway. He has dropped out of high school to make some money in the oil fields.
And guess what? Levi Johnson is not registered to vote! Hmmm. Maybe he should have stayed in school.
Free Sarah!
Sep 24th
One of my favorite bloggers: Jesus’ General also posted this video on his site, along with a link to another blogger, who is not of the same political persuasion that we are. As part of this other blogger’s criticism of Campbell Brown she (yes, this bigot is actually a woman) calls Campbell Brown a “Sex Toy to Saudi Masters” and “A Muslim Whore who Pimps for the Jihad.”
The amusing thing is that she also links to the Wikipedia entry on Campbell Brown to back up her claim that Campbell’s father was a Democratic Insurance Commissioner in Louisiana who served a 6-month sentence for insurance fraud. Therefore, claims this female bigot, Campbell Brown is aligned with the Democrats.
Interestingly, the Wikipedia, entry on Campbell Brown also says, in the very same paragraph that Campbell Brown is married to Daniel Samuel “Dan” Senor (born 1971), a Republican political consultant to President George W. Bush who appears regularly on Fox News in Washington, D.C.
So Pam, according to your logic, wouldn’t that make Campbell Brown a Republican?
Bob Barr: Federal Drug War Rethought
Sep 11th
Bob Barr, the Libertarian Party candidate for President, who as a congressman led the drive to impeach President Clinton, has seen the light on the drag war at least:
Bob Barr: Federal Drug War Rethought
Dino Rossi writes me a personal letter
Aug 5th
I received a personal letter today from Dino Rossi, candidate for governor on the “Prefers GOP†party ticket. I know it was personal because he referred to me by name several times. Obviously he hopes to connect with me and my many readers.
My friend Dino’s feelings were hurt when a supporter of Governor Christine Gregoire called him a “sleazy politician.†This overt racism against people with Italian names really is outrageous.
And then are these horrible ads being run by the Special Interests who support the Governor, in this case the Teachers’ Union. Those damn selfish teachers, always thinking of themselves and their students. Trying to get us to spend more money on their salaries and on smaller classes so they don’t have to work so hard. Next thing you know they will want to make enough money to live in Seattle where they work.
Actually I agree with my buddy about how horrible the advertising is. Just the other day I heard that Governor Gregoire had released thousands of sexual predators to run amok in our state. Oh, and that no roads were built anymore since she became Governor. And the damn
injuns are running the government. Holy smoke.
Oh wait, Dino, aren’t those ads being run by your buddies in the BIAW? What am I thinking, poor Dino has no control over those fat cats.
I think I will write him back, however, just to ask about how those pictures were faked with him and G.W. Bush smiling and hugging each other.
Hold on a minute, McCain, aren’t Britney and Paris Republicans?
Aug 1st
This new advertisement from the McCain campaign equating Obama’s fame with Britney Spears and Paris Hilton got me to thinking. Wasn’t Britney once quoted as saying she supported George Bush?
Sure enough I found this video on YouTube proving it.
As for Paris, as a spoiled rich heiress, we can probably assume she supports the Republican Party, too, as long as they enable her to keep her inheritance intact.
Mother: Brian Keith Brown was trying to help
Jul 16th
Brian Keith Brown’s mother is saying that her son was only trying to help the girls who were in a confrontation with the man who was watering the traffic circle. Seattle Times Newspaper
So perhaps this murder was an example of a gallant young gentlemen defending poor defensive girls against a 60-year old man with a garden hose for a weapon? As if these large young women needed his help.
A few years ago I was cold-cocked myself by a young man who attacked me for dating a woman that he considered his girlfriend. Normally young men expect to get away with punching out people because their peers don’t turn them in. In my case I had the guy arrested and recovered several thousand dollars in damages to pay for my medical and dental bills. This isn’t what usually happens to the perpetrators, but perhaps if it did they would think before they punch.
The tragedy is that the victim didn’t have to die and the suspect will probably spend years in prison for his mistake.
UPDATE: The suspect has just turned himself in.
Update on Golden Gardens Drive repairs
Jul 4th
Even though Seattle’s city government says that repairs on Golden Gardens Drive Northwest will start in July (now), there doesn’t seem to be much going on there.
What they have done is try to fence off the area from pedestrians and bikers, but this has met with limited success. On the north side a narrow trail around the fence is obviously being used. On the south about 4 feet of the fence has been torn down.
Otherwise, except for some yellow tape and some clean-up, it looks pretty much the same as it did shortly after the road collapsed last December 3rd after torrential rains caused a car to drop into the sinkhole.
It’s actually kind of peaceful there. One expects to run into a coyote or eagle. It’s easy to see that after a year or two the area could be claimed again by the berry bushes.
According to the city the road will be open again by the end of the year. We shall see!
Colin Powell to endorse Obama?
Jun 26th
A few years ago when I was traveling regularly to Cuba I started a Yahoo group about Cuba. I had several members of that group who were elderly refugees from Cuba, who have a rather slanted view of American politics; namely that being a Democrat is the same as being a traitor to the United States, as well as a Communist. I actually have had to kick out two of these men after warning them they could not call me a traitor just because I happened to disagree with them.
I still get email about Obama from one of them. Here is a typical screed from him:
“This guy, Barack Hussein Bin Laden Obama, is nothing more than a renegade and frustrated muslim with his fundamentalist ideas that included the hate for America, americans and all that represent our values as an americans.
If we don’t act wisely, this traitor of America will join the forces of terror from the White House, and will be an active participant, as a fundamentalist muslim, in the destruction of our beloved Country and will allow hundreds of 9/11 to happen from north to south and from east to west in american ground.
So, don’t let this Obama fool you with his incoherents speeches about “the change”. Yes, of course, the so called “change” will be not only the destruction of America, but the convertion by force of all americans to the muslim religion. Don’t allow that to happen to you and your family. Don’t let that to happen to America.”
Charming stuff, huh?
Recently this same man sent me a column written by a Thomas Sowell, of the conservative Hoover Institute. The article goes to great lengths to explain he is a black man who does not support Obama. In an effort to show how open-minded he is, he says that he would happily vote for Colin Powell for President. In other words, it’s not as if he is prejudiced against black people. Just liberal ones.
All of this makes me wonder how my Cuban friends would take today’s column by Robert D. Novak , which says that Colin Powell is going to endorse Barack Obama for President. Not only that, but Time Magazine’s Robert Halperin thinks that Powell will speak at the Democratic Convention.
Will my old Cuban “friends” label their old buddy Colin Powell a traitor, too?
