Olympia Time

Hire a good campaign tracker, and some references

2008-07-25T11:49:00.000-07:00

With both Gregoire and Dino employing campaign trackers (staffers with video cameras who attend opponents events looking for a macaca) here are some important links.

A Seattleite in Idaho will be back in Seattle in a couple of weeks and is apparently the Ty Cobb of campaign trackers:

I tracked for an organization that provided me with the top notch equipment that made my job easier. I had a Macbook and Final Cut Express for editing, a sweet Canon HD Camcorder, a nice microphone that captured great sound, a fancy Manfrotto tripod, the cords and adapters to plug into a mult box, a digital voice recorder, and more.

So, Washington State Democratic Party, if you want to track and ensure that the crook Dino Rossi doesn't win, and ensure a Darcy Burner victory so that douchebag Reichart loses his seat, I suggest you not only keep tracking their events, but you invest in equipment that will capture great images and, more importantly, GREAT sound.

Concord Monitor: Campaign trackers: boot, block or befriend?
MPR: Candidates have few secrets from campaign 'trackers'

Anti-Romero letter copied from a blog

2008-07-25T08:27:00.000-07:00

Letter to the editor in the Olympian this morning:

Romero has cost taxpayers dearly

Sandra Romero is a board member of a powerful special-interest group called Futurewise. Her group filed a growth management appeal in 2005 challenging Thurston County's comprehensive plan and cost the county an estimated $1.5 million defending against this frivolous claim.
The county commissioners have a duty to administer the state laws and provide for public safety, heath and roads. The commission doesn't need to be sidetracked by having to deal with lawsuits generated by special-interest groups.

In Romero's own words, "(The) budget is the biggest problem right now, it is the driver of all of our woes ... with almost a $4.5 million shortfall it's going to be very difficult to get out of it."

Romero's special-interest group is responsible for over 25 percent of the current budget crisis, and I'm not willing to send her in to try and fix it. This would be like sending the fox to the hen house.

Please join me in voting for any one of the other three candidates.

Cathy Franzmann, Lacey

Thurston Pundits (written by R. Scott) 10 days ago:

Sandra Romero is a board member of a powerful special-interest group called ‘Futurewise’. Her group filed a growth management appeal in 2005 challenging Thurston County’s comprehensive plan and cost the County an estimated 1.5 million dollars defending against this frivolous claim.

The County Commissioners have a duty to administrate the State laws and provide for public safety, heath and roads. The Commission doesn’t need to be sidetracked by having to deal with lawsuits generated by special-interest groups.

In Romero’s own words, “[the] budget is the biggest problem right now, it is the driver of all of our woes ... with almost a 4.5 million dollar shortfall it's going to be very difficult to get out of it.”

Romero’s special-interest group is responsible for over 25% of the current budget crisis, and I’m not willing to send her in to try and fix it. This would be like sending the fox to the hen house. Please join me in voting for any one of the other three candidates.

Wow. Nothing more I can really say about that.

The next big Olympia blog

2008-07-24T22:21:00.000-07:00

Will be Everyday Olympia:

It looks like OlyForums is going to become part of Mathias' Everyday Olympia. That is to say the forum will be hosted there. The OlyForums.net URL will direct users to the forums themselves.

Mathias' EDO probably would have continued to expand had he added forums there anyway, but Olyforums.net already has its own energized group of folks ready to talk to each other. Now, I suspect all EDO needs is one or two more front page bloggers and Mathias will be set.

Speaking of good Olympia Blogs, Oly Ost (means East Olympia) is pretty good.

One last Lakefair laugh (Republican Party as GOP)

2008-07-24T14:00:00.000-07:00

Forwarded by a fellow Thurston Dem:

Just a couple of thoughts.

Their sign isn't very big, but with the wilting upper right hand corner, can you see that this is the Republican booth at Lakefair? I didn't get down this far (only as far north on Water Street to get a Demo burger and an Elephant Ear), so I didn't see this myself.

Maybe they didn't have a big enough sign to be able to say "Thurston County Republicans?"

Maybe they didn't have enough money for a second sign that said "Thurston County Republicans?" And, why don't they sell burgers?

Maybe they're guilty of the same distraction as Dino Rossi. Maybe no one will realize they're Republicans?

New PDC web site REALLY kicks ass

2008-07-24T13:51:00.000-07:00

I was about to write the exact same post that Aneurin just wrote, so I'll just link to it and add two comments.

Makes you wonder why the PDC stuck around with their first generation site for so long when this one is so much cooler. Its almost like they missed a step in between.

The effectiveness of reporting laws are only as good as the tools the government uses to push information to the public. If the data is locked in a filing cabinet, or in a bad online database, we might as well not be reporting.

Campaign watchers and the Rossi and Gregoire campaigns

2008-07-24T09:38:00.000-07:00

Rossi and the Republicans send a campaign watcher to Gregoire's events. That by itself isn't all that interesting. Thought it is when you realize that Rossi and the Republicans prevent a Democratic campaign watcher from getting into Rossi event.

From the comments of the original video, which for some reason doesn't have any sound:

I don't get it. Why was someone from the Democratic Party wanting to get in to a Rossi event with a video camera? I'm not sure I would have allowed you guys in either! Seems a bit suspicious to me.

And, in response:

It's because Washington state Democrats, much like their counterparts all over this country, are hypocritical frauds. Do you think for one second that they would allow a Republican into a Gregoire event with a video camera? Of course not. Like their presidential candidate, they are complete phonies.

Well, rather, of course they would. Look at the first video again.

One video of Rossi's closed events, one with sound, one without

2008-07-23T12:02:00.000-07:00

I heard about the Rossi folks complaining about the Italian mobster music, but not about country music.

Ok, take a look. This video at the Washington Dems Youtube channel without a soundtrack.

Same video, at another channel (the creator of the video's channel?) with soundtrack.

What's going on here? Did Rossi complain? Why would he complain? Why just remove the soundtrack if he complained?

Did the Washington Democratic Party imply Rossi was a hick?

Good for Rick McKinnon, good for Olyblog, good for Olympia

2008-07-23T10:57:00.001-07:00

Rick:

After more than a year of working with a group of docents who have helped to run the blog, I've decided to end the experiment. The docent model was not entirely successful, in no small part due to an overall lack of organization and commitment, but lately due to some specific personality conflicts. I'm not sure what will take its place, but I'm hopeful that we can develop some sort of community-governed system. Stay tuned.

Jason, a fellow former docent who I like and respect, called for Rick's resignation via email to the rest of the docents earlier today. Just for reference, Rick founded and still owns Olyblog.

This dustup reflects a view of Olyblog that in my opinion isn't entirely healthy or productive. "Olympia owns Olyblog" is hurtful because Olyblog cannot be everything to everyone. We've become too used to their being one place, one newspaper, one blog where we all go.

More Olyblogs.

UPDATE: Though Rick turned off comments on his thread, a post with comment enabled have popped up:
A place to comment on the "End of the Experiment."

Checking to see who in my family reads this blog (Victory at Sea)

2008-07-23T09:25:00.000-07:00

Because my dad and my brother would love this.

Download the eight of the 26 episode series here for free and for legal.

Wikipedia: Victory at Sea

"Kelly's in the water and won't wake up"

2008-07-23T08:36:00.000-07:00

Yikes, this is scary.

Via email:

The Coast Guard is seeking the public's help in identifying the source of a radio call they received earlier this evening from a young girl who identified herself as "Kelsey." The girl stopped transmitting before additional information could be gathered.

The girl, who said she was six years old, called the Coast Guard at 5:11 PM stating that someone with her, possibly named Kelly, was "in the water," and was "not waking up."

The Coast Guard copied the transmission on its radio towers in southern Puget Sound, and conducted a thorough search of the area with an MH-65 Dolphin helicopter crew from Coast Guard Air Station Port Angeles, Wash., and a small boat crew from Coast Guard Station Seattle.

Anyone who heard this little girl on the radio, or who can provide additional information, is requested to contact Coast Guard Sector Seattle at 206-217-6001.

I remember screwing around with my dad's radio when my family owned a sailboat when I was growing up. I probably pissed off a handful of Coasties, but this is still very creepy.

Mariners Game from Forks [public transporting]

2008-07-23T06:01:00.000-07:00

This one doesn't follow the normal format of letting you know how much this trip will put you back, but if you were a Mariner fan in Forks lacking your own vehicle, would $50 (I assume the high range of this trip) stop you?

Probably not.

So, you're an Ms fan in Forks, you want to see a game. What time do you need to leave to catch a 7 p.m. first pitch in Seattle?

Clallam County, Route 14
Leave Forks, 9:30 a.m.
Arrive PA Transit Center, 10:50 a.m.

Clallam County, Route 30
Leave PA , 11:00 a.m.
Arrive Sequim Transit Center, 11:35 a.m.

Jefferson County, Route 8
Leave Sequim, 12:43 p.m.
Arrive Four Corners, 1:19 p.m.

Jefferson County, Route 7
Leave Four Corners, 3:34 p.m.
Arrive Poulsbo, 4:27 p.m.

Kitsap County, Rt. 90
Leave Poulsbo, 4:37 p.m.
Arrive Bainbridge Ferry, 4:57 p.m.

Washington DOT Seattle/Bainbridge Island Ferry
Leave Bainbridge, 5:30 p.m.
Arrive Seattle, 6:05 p.m.

And, you can walk the rest.

What surprised me about this trip is that the huge lag is in Jefferson County. I always understood Jefferson to be the more liberal of the three counties represented here, but their cross county transportation sucks. You might as well go all the way into the north side of the county before you can catch a bus out.

It might be the geographic orientation of Jefferson County, being North/South rather than East/West like Clallam. Most Jefferson County citizens moving within the county would go north/south, while you could assume folks from outside the county (and therefore don't play into public transportation decisions) would be more interested in east/west.

I wish the Democratic Party in Washington State was more like Chad Lupkes

2008-07-23T05:52:00.000-07:00

I don't think I've ever met Chad in person, but I feel his wake a lot down here in Olympia, and I'm pretty late in saying that I appreciate his efforts.

In a way I wish there were more people like Chad, but there already are hundreds of people in the state party that do what he does.

Washington Democratic Chairs is a much better website than our state party website. Much more focussed on being creative and giving tools to citizens than doing whatever the state party website does.

Just an example, here you can find a shape file and a kmz file for precincts for most counties in Washington.

Dino Rossi's old crew guilty of severe metonymy

2008-07-16T21:45:00.000-07:00

Arg:

How Olympia's Solution to Climate Change Will Affect You and Your Pocketbook

Ok, just to get this straight, Olympia (as I know it) is doing something about climate change, but this isn't what Ted Dahlstrom is talking about.

He's talking about "the government of the State of Washington" and calling it "Olympia." I know this is a device called metonymy, but I think is an incorrect metonymy and a particularly dangerous one to our democratic government.

The purpose of metonymy is to take something large (like state government or the collected newspapers, radio and television stations) and call them something simple (like Olympia or "the press"). In the case of Washington State government and Olympia, I think this is turning the state government into a distant other, something that we feel no connection to.

Of course, I do feel a connection to Olympia, and am turned off by the metonmonic use of Olympia.

But, according to those in Olympia, it isn't anywhere near enough.

...

Those in Olympia have taken it upon themselves to be one of only six states to pass legislation dealing with climate change.

...

Even if that is true, the point remains that the legislation does have a cost, and that cost would be passed directly to the consumer. The same can be said for Olympia's climate change legislation.

But, it isn't "those in Olympia" and it isn't "Olympia's" anything. Legislators are elected from communities all over Washington State. While they may work in Olympia from time to time, they still come from places not near Olympia.

Calling the state legislator down the road from you as being "from Olympia" or part of "Olympia" makes him a distant other that has little connection to you or your community. Which isn't true.

Listen to Sounders Fight Song

2008-07-16T13:17:00.000-07:00

Simply because I want you to.

Live version here.

Actually current leadership, not Sandra, cost Thurston County $1.5 million

2008-07-16T12:51:00.000-07:00

R. Scott blames Sandra Romero for pointing out where Thurston County was wrong:

Her group filed a growth management appeal in 2005 challenging Thurston County’s comprehensive plan and cost the County an estimated 1.5 million dollars defending against this frivolous claim.
The County Commissioners have a duty to administrate the State laws and provide for public safety, heath and roads. The Commission doesn’t need to be sidetracked by having to deal with lawsuits generated by special-interest groups.

Wouldn't a frivolous claim, that the rules in Thurston County governing growth didn't jive with state mandates, be thrown out by the courts? It would, but R. Scott lied when he characterized the nature of the lawsuit and how it ended up. Futurewise actually won the case.

Even the local builder's association admits this:

According to Andy Cook, BIAW Legal Counsel "the decision is a mixed bag, but mostly a loss". The court ruled that the Growth Management Hearings Board did not err in ruling the Thurston Count's urban growth areas were too large. Cook noted, that "the court completely dismissed our arguments and evidence showing that the Board made a clerical error in finding that the UGAs were too large."

So is it frivolous to challenge government action that you think is wrong? Is it frivolous when two judges agree with you?

For your refernce's here's Washington Land Use Law blog's post on the topic.

Help send the 22nd LD (including James Yee) to Denver

2008-07-09T22:24:00.000-07:00

Via email:

The 22^nd Legislative District Democrats are hosting a BBQ fundraiser to help our unprecedented ten person delegation travel to the Democratic National Convention this August. Please pass this email on to your friends and let them know about our event.

Most of the delegation will be in attendance to share their stories with you. We hope to see you there! For more information or if you would like to donate online please visit www.ld22.org.

Jim Cooper
Chair 22^nd Legislative District Democrats

PS Former US Army Chaplain, author, and Obama National Delegate from LD22, James Yee, will be in attendance with signed copies of his book For God and Country: Faith and Patriotism Under Fire available for sale.

TVW and their video voter guide

2008-07-08T06:23:00.000-07:00

The first big test for the embed tool over at TVW will hopefully be the video voters guide.

By the way, have you notice since right before the new tool went online, Mark has been really quiet?

Via email:

For immediate release – July 7, 2008

For more info: TVW President Greg Lane, 360-725-3999

Video Voters’ Guide begins today on TVW

Olympia – TVW and the Washington Secretary of State are offering the public a chance to watch direct, unedited statements from candidates for statewide office via the 2008 Video Voters’ Guide.

Beginning today and continuing through the Nov. 4 election – with separate primary and general election editions – TVW will televise the Video Voters’ Guide regularly on statewide cable television.

“The Video Voters’ Guide is a valuable public service and is one more way for the electorate to stay informed in this important election year,” said Washington Secretary of State Sam Reed. “We hope voters will follow their state and local races with the same interest and excitement they’re showing for this year’s presidential race.”

TVW and the Secretary of State have teamed up to offer the Video Voters’ Guide every two years since 1996. The guide features candidates for statewide offices: Governor, Lieutenant Governor, Secretary of State, State Treasurer, State Auditor, Attorney General, Commissioner of Public Lands, Superintendent of Public Instruction, Insurance Commissioner, and Supreme Court Justice.

“Voters will hear many sound bites this election year, but it’s also important they get the whole picture,” said TVW President Greg Lane. “Beginning with the Video Voters’ Guide, our election coverage will give people the chance to watch the candidates talk to them directly, straight and unedited.”

The guide also will be available on the Web at tvw.org. Link to the Video Voters’ Guide Web page here: http://www.tvw.org/Elections/VideoVotersGuide.cfm?bhcp=1

- 30 -

Note to media: TV, print, radio and news blog Web sites are encouraged to embed the 2008 Video Voters’ Guide on their sites using TVW’s new embedding tool, detailed below.

TVW, often called the Washington state version of C-SPAN, provides unedited gavel-to-gavel television coverage of the State Legislature, Supreme Court, executive branch, state boards and commissions, elections, and public policy events of statewide significance. TVW’s 2008 election coverage includes party conventions, candidate debates and forums, newspaper editorial board interviews, and a LIVE election night program. For the first time this fall TVW’s “Election Tuesdays” will highlight the network’s top weekly election coverage starting at 7 p.m., along with civics education programs featuring high school students and teachers.

Cable TV carries TVW for free, reaching 99% of the cable households in Washington, representing about 55% of the state population. Viewers can watch TVW programs on demand at tvw.org, which includes the largest archive of legislative streaming media in the world.

We’re pleased to announce TVW has added a new embedding tool to all programming found on its Web site tvw.org.

This new tool allows any event from TVW’s archives to be embedded into Web sites and blogs, and includes the ability to highlight a portion of the footage, but in a way that honors the balanced, unedited, gavel-to-gavel nature of TVW programming.

The new embedding tool is readily accessible just below the player window of every TVW video and audio event available at tvw.org.

Our goal is to be the most effective resource as possible for citizens to view the Legislature, state government and state public policy debate. We look forward to your comments, questions and suggestions, as well as working with you to improve our services.

Sincerely, Greg Lane, President

What is “embedding”?
Embedding is the ability to place a video or other object in HTML code in order to display it on a Web page. TVW will now allow you to "embed" a TVW video or audio event on another Web site or blog while TVW’s servers securely stream that content to your Web visitors.

Embedding instructions
Embedding TVW video on your Web site is simple and very similar to YouTube’s embed function. With a little knowledge of HTML you can quickly get TVW's video playing on your Web Site or blog.
To embed an event from tvw.org:

* Click in the text field under the video player area or click "Embed". This will select all of the code needed to copy into your site or blog’s HTML editor.
* Use the "Right mouse click" and chose "Copy." This will copy the text to your computer’s clipboard.
* “Paste” this code into your Web site’s HTML code or your blog’s HTML editor.

(For specific hosted blog spheres and how to embed video code, please consult the appropriate help section of your blog site or contact your Webmaster.)

Advanced embedding options

TVW’s advanced virtual-clip feature is unique to the Web. This feature allows you to choose a “Start” and “Stop” time, essentially creating a virtual clip of a TVW event. This, however, does not edit the actual event - it allows a user to continue playing from the point the clip ends and review the event in its entirety right from your Web page or blog.

To use the advanced features, click the “Use Advanced Embed” button and set the start and stop times. These times must be in a HH:MM:SS format. You can also set the width dimensions of the video. The dimensions feature can only be set in conjunction with using the virtual-clip feature. To simply embed the video without a virtual-clip, click the “reset” or “Use Standard Embed” buttons. This will clear any advanced embed features. For further questions about TVW’s embedding feature, contact support@tvw.org.

Republicans made a mistake nominating Christine Webb to face Brian Baird

2008-06-30T19:43:00.000-07:00

Ok, I'll be honest, I don't know all that much about Christine Webb. My knowledge begins and ends with that she came into the race against Brian Baird very late, and seemingly to attempt to beat out a less than establishment Republican that had been making waves in the Ron Paul sense.

My argument is that only a Ron Paul type Republican could beat Brian Baird this time around. Well, a financed Paul Republican, but that would require some support from the local Republican establishment and maybe they're not ready for that yet.

Ok, here's my argument: Baird is a great in-district guy. No one on his staff is allowed to run for local office (no link for this fact, I just know its a fact). There's absolutely nothing wrong with that, but it emphasizes that Baird doesn't like to face off against local Republican leaders in the field.

So, the typical "he's forgotten about us" argument won't work against Baird. Therefore it would also be hard to gain traction against him with the local chamber of commerce, Lion Clubs folks.

Cheryl Crist is making a run at Baird from the left, but with Olympia only being a very small portion of the district, and Baird being an incumbent from her own party, she'll have a harder go at it.

So, where does that leave us? People not taken to insurrection (chamber types) are out. The progressive community can't make a run at Baird from the left, so the best candidate would be from the right who could attract protest votes from the left and mobilize disaffected conservatives.

If someone is to knock off Baird, it will only be an anti-war righty, Michael Delavar.

By the way, over at Politics is a blood sport blog, they seem to be pointing to a inter-party fight down in Clark County between the Delavar folks and Webb folks. Maybe Delavar can pull it off.

Archie Binns wrote horror fiction?

2008-06-27T06:24:00.000-07:00

You learn something new every day, at least when you randomly search blog posts for "Archie Binns."

FromGruesome Cargoes blog, a blog about early 20th century "horror fiction," Binns wrote a story called The Last Trip:

“I would have died long ago if it hadn’t been for her. I was blown up and shot to pieces … they brought back what was left of me, and put me away. I waited my chance until tonight, when I came to find you!”

The blogger comments:

The late bus from Pacific Street to Lewis. Butler is first irked then increasingly terrified as the journey proceeds in sombre silence, save for the mantra “Driver, I want to get off here” when one of the passengers wants to disembark. Eventually, there is only one man left, who pulls a gun, introduces himself as Death and says he wants to go to Woodland Cemetery.

Essentially a precursor of Dr. Terror’s House Of Horrors‘ framing story, this would have made for a great EC strip.

Ok, that does sound creepy.

Now remember, we live in a Republic

2008-06-27T05:45:00.000-07:00

One of the funniest things I hear from conservatives is "now, remember, we live in a Republic, not a democracy," and then they spout off about how that actually limits our own control of government.

Anyway, that's not what Republic means. Rather than direct democracy, the framers assumed that citizens would be so damn close to their government, that there would be no chance that it would get out of control.

For example, guns. The recent gun rights decision actually makes a lot of sense to me as a liberal Democrat. There would be very little chance of anyone raising a militia if individuals didn't have the right to bear arms.

But, bearing those arms should be to the benefit of society as a whole. It should be the better protection of our communities and our neighbors.

Gary Hart wrote a great book almost ten years ago, The Minuteman: Restoring an Army of the People, that turns the gun rights argument on its head:

The Framers of our Constitution had a fear of standing armies, and of governments backed by them, that one legal scholar calls "almost hysterical." A standing army of professionals, they were sure, would eventually do one of two things: agitate for foreign military adventures to keep itself employed, or turn against its civilian masters to create a military dictatorship. To these two political threats they added a third, moral danger: that citizens used to relying on professionals for the defense of their liberties would come to take their freedom lightly.
The Framers' solution was the militia, an armed body that included all citizens qualified to vote. Whites without property were also eligible for the militia, provided they were not felons, and so were some blacks. The Framers saw this broad-based military institution as a vital protection against tyranny.

Every citizen had the right to own a gun because every citizen, in a republic, was responsible for that republic continuing.

You may have an individual right to bear arms, but that right comes with a societal mortgage that needs to be paid.

How do we pay that in an age of professional armies and police forces?

Another great discussion at History Beating Up Politics.

Lakewood is lucky to have Neary

2008-06-23T09:18:00.000-07:00

Good lord.

I'm pretty sure that it wasn't that Walter Neary was typing and blogging that first ticked off the public commenters at a Lakewood City Council meeting last month, it was that he disagreed with them at the time that the city could do anything at all about the Clover Park School District. The city and school district being seperate governments and all.

But, they complained that he was blogging when he should have been paying attention to what they were saying so they got pissed.

Most telling for me is that on his original post there are only two comments.

Look Lakewood, you're lucky to have a city-councilman that takes this so seriously that he blogs about it. First, learn some basic civics. Second, blog back at Neary.

That he was blogging what you were talking about tells me that he was actually taking you very seriously, he found what you were saying interesting and that he thought other people should hear about it.

Randrom free PR advice to some folks who want to build a building downtown

2008-06-23T05:55:00.000-07:00

An email I sent to a buddy awhile back that I'd meant to post here. Enjoy or not.

A little free PR advice to some folks in the development world:

In my mind the battle to build the convention center downtown was lost in August 2003 when Public Funds for Public Purposes canvassed Olympia City Council members' neighborhoods and asked the residents what they thought of the convention center. All of the neighborhoods had a large majority against the project, with Doug Mah's I remember being up around 90 percent.

PFPP did a lot with this information, including standing up against the wall during a city council candidate debate, holding signs saying "Doug: 90 percent of your neighbors don't want the convention center."

This is an important lesson for the Larida Pasage debate because it illustrates what happens when you lose control of the narrative. The council and the city bumbled around with the details of the convention center, and let opponents build a case against it as the details came to light.

We're also getting very close to the point (maybe within days) of this happening with Larida Passage. I know its a small example, but its a bad sign that I can't drive to the Safeway without seeing half-a-dozen signs saying "Don't Wall of the Waterfront" or "Save our Views." There should at least be competing signage saying "Save Downtown."

In this case, its more of downtown residents talking about what they see as the negatives of the project. Keep in mind, downtowners' negatives aren't necessarily the negatives that would be seen from someone outside downtown. If the project suddenly appeared tomorrow, most Olympia residents wouldn't see it as a big deal. Most downtowners would be apoplectic.

So, define the positives of the project from the perspective of someone living in S. Capitol, off of Cain Rd. or near Garfield School.

For example: How are walkers around Capitol Lake going see the project? The size of the buildings, from someone walking the north side of the lake or the south sidewalk of 5th would be a turn-off. To these people you need to talk about the ground floor retail and the general sprucing up of the blocks.

By and large, lake walkers are not downtowners. They come down to the lake and walk because it is a downtown feature they enjoy. You could take this same exercise and carry it with any group of people that use downtown, but do not live there. Another example would be folks who attend Lake Fair.

So, its not necessary to fight back against every negative downtowner argument (traffic, views in general, the "feel" of downtown), but rather build parallel and positive argument the project to the sections of the community that will actually decide whether this goes forward.

Strictly countering downtowner arguments will in the end give them more credence and leave the out-of-downtowners no other vision of the project then what the downtowners define it as.

Mt. Rainier scenic railroad, well worth the money

2008-06-22T20:18:00.000-07:00

The whole family plus some friends motored down to Morton this morning to take in an hour long train ride in the foothills. The entire ride was well worth the experience. Our two year old was beside himself nearly the entire trip and everyone helping out on the train ride was extremely friendly.

Taking him up into the diesel engine was a great added bonus.

I'm not a train person at all, but I could see the attraction that some folks have. I can see a day well spent though and appreciate it.

I think beautiful views are killing Puget Sound [Wall off the waterfront]

2008-06-22T20:01:00.000-07:00

Puget Sound is dying because it is too beautiful. The central issue with Puget Sound isn't actually finding a way to fix what's wrong. We know what's wrong and how to fix it, its convincing people that there's even a problem.

Most folks look at Puget Sound and see beauty, so how could there be a problem?

This is directly tied to my recent thoughts on building higher than average buildings close to the water in downtown Oly.

We have to stop thinking of the beauty of this place as an ecological function. Puget Sound can be both beautiful and dying at the same time. Why are we so worried about building bigger buildings (that would actually decrease stormwater run-off because they'd be built to modern standards) on already urban lots?

Not building them where urban growth already is would push growth further out, in rural and undeveloped areas.

So, we don't build them because the view of Puget Sound is pretty? I think we should build them especially if they block the view so we can remind ourselves that Olympia is already big piece of concrete, and that concrete on dirt is not pretty.

TVW embed tool is live

2008-06-20T22:22:00.000-07:00

Its official, TVW has added customized embedding for all of their internet content. This includes (as I realized this morning how important this would be) the audio content. I would estimate 70 percent of the really good stuff (state legislative committee work) is audio only.

Via email from Greg Lane:

We’re pleased to announce TVW has added a new embedding tool to all programming found on our website tvw.org.

This new tool allows any event from TVW’s archives to be embedded into websites and blogs, and includes the ability to highlight a portion of the footage, but in a way that honors the balanced, unedited, gavel-to-gavel nature of TVW programming.

The new embedding tool is readily accessible just below the player window of every TVW video and audio event available at tvw.org.

Our goal is to be the most effective resource as possible for citizens to view the Legislature, state government and state public policy debate. We look forward to your comments, questions and suggestions, as well as working with you to improve our services.

Sincerely,

Greg Lane, President
360-725-3999
greg@tvw.org

What is “embedding”?

Embedding is the ability to place a video or other object in html code in order to display it on a webpage. TVW will now allow you to "embed" a TVW video or audio event on another website or blog while TVW’s servers securely stream that content to your web visitors.

Embedding instructions

Embedding TVW video on your website is simple and very similar to YouTube’s embed function. With a little knowledge of html you can quickly get TVW's video playing on your website or blog.
To embed an event from tvw.org:

* Click in the text field under the video player area or click "Embed". This will select all of the code needed to copy into your site or blogs html editor.
* Use the "Right mouse click" and chose "Copy." This will copy the text to your computers clipboard.
* “Paste” this code into your websites html code or your bog’s html editor.

(For specific hosted blog spheres and how to embed video code, please consult the appropriate help section of your blog site or contact your webmaster.)

Advanced embedding options

TVW’s advanced virtual-clip feature is unique to the web. This feature allows you to choose a “Start” and “Stop” time, essentially creating a virtual clip of a TVW event. This, however, does not edit the actual event - it allows a user to continue playing from the point the clip ends and review the event in its entirety right from your webpage or blog.

To use the advanced features, click the “Use Advanced Embed” button and set the start and stop times. These times must be in a HH:MM:SS format. You can also set the width dimensions of the video. The dimensions feature can only be set in conjunction with using the virtual-clip feature. To simply embed the video without a virtual-clip, click the “reset” or “Use Standard Embed” buttons. This will clear any advanced embed features.

For further questions about TVW’s embedding feature, contact support@tvw.org.

Here are a few lessons learned from this little adventure:

1. Even though I care about something and have cared for a bit, just me caring about something doesn't mean something will actually get done. I started thinking and blogging about TVW and social media over a year ago, but it wasn't until a more prominent blogger crossed swords with them did this ball get moving.

2. Small organizations with good people can do great work.

3. Mark Gardener, who jumped on this issue early (here and here), apparently trying to pick Goldy on the issue, looks like a total ass. Still. What really bothers me about his writing on this was that he was so quick to make it into a "oh wow, this is really going to hurt those Dems" thing when there were so many issues here to mull over about how this could be bad for blogger, citizens and democracy in general.

Oh well, don't want to look too far outside the blinder, eh Mark?