Friday, November 20, 2009 @ 1:46pm
Climate Change scam - the smoking gun

A hacker has leaked years worth of e-mails that confirms a stunning global warming scam. Several prominent climatologists colluded to manipulate data to hide the fact that the planet has not been warming. One e-mail instructed the recipient to "hide the data". This may be the smoking gun that proves that there is no evidence of man caused global warming.

Link 1

Link 2

Link 3

The global warming house of cards is crashing down.

Friday, November 20, 2009 @ 6:29am
Arrested for not paying a tip

You're with a large group at a bar & grill. The B&G automatically adds an 18% gratuity to the bills of parties of six or more. And then you discover the service is horrible. The owner of the eatery even admitted the service was unusually slow that night.

Should you be allowed to not pay the "gratuity"?

This young college-age couple said that, given the lousy service, there is no way they should be forced to pay the mandatory tip.

AND THEY GOT ARRESTED FOR IT!

Watch the story and then tell me whose side you're on.

Thursday, November 19, 2009 @ 2:03pm
T-shirt Glorifies Seattle Cop Killer Suspect

Listener Ron in Everett tipped us to this website featuring a t-shirt glorifying alleged Seattle cop killer Christopher Monfort, accused of shooting to death officer Timothy Brenton.

Should this shirt even be allowed for sale? How shameless and cowardly are the creators and vendors of this t-shirt? This shirt is positively reprehensible.

Thursday, November 19, 2009 @ 1:02pm
Teen kills 9 year old

Alyssa Bustamante, 15, is accused to killing 9-year-old Elizabeth Olten. Reports say Alyssa dug a grave and then spent the next week planning the murder.

On a night in October, Bustamante allegedly strangled, cut, and stabbed Olten.

"Ultimately, she [Bustamante] stated she wanted to know what it felt like." Read more

Thursday, November 19, 2009 @ 12:54pm
KSM NYC Terror Trial--Round 1

Here's the (sorta) confontation between So. Carolina Sen. Lindsay Graham and Attorney General Eric Holder discussing the decision of a civilian criminal trial in New York City for September 11th terror plot suspect Khalid Sheik Mohammad.

A listener questioned the editing of audio I played on the air, look for the uncut clip I played starting at 2:31. It's a 3:52 exchange.

Wednesday, November 18, 2009 @ 7:24pm
Government fun with math

I got this press release today from the Washington Traffic Safety Commission:

Results of the Recent Nighttime Seat Belt Patrols
In King County Announced Today

King County, WA - The results are in from the recent Nighttime Click it or Ticket patrols conducted between October 23 and November 8. Law enforcement in King County, wrote 143 seatbelt citations, 16 speeding infractions, four cell phone violations, in addition to one felony warrant and two misdemeanor warrant arrests, and issued 10 uninsured motorists and 17 suspended/revoked license violations.

Statewide, approximately 50 law enforcement agencies and the WSP worked the extra patrols.

In King County, the Auburn, Black Diamond, Kent, Maple Valley, Renton, Sea Tac Police Departments, and the King County Sheriff’s Office participated in the extra emphasis patrols with the support of the South King County Target Zero Traffic Safety Task Force. The extra patrols were funded by a grant from the Washington Traffic Safety Commission.

Studies show that a person wearing a seatbelt has a 70% better chance of surviving a crash than a non-belted person.

Being the math nerd that I am, I started wondering how much government collects from us for every life saved. I need to make some assumptions in my calculations. But here's what I came up with:

We have had years of intense seat-belt-awareness campaigns. And our state already has one of the highest seat-belt-usage rates in the country. I assume that everyone who is inclined to wear a seat belt already does. Therefore, these patrols only change the behavior in the people who are ticketed.

They issued 143 seatbelt citations, 16 speeding infractions, and four cell phone violations. For my calculations, I am only going to include those tickets. So that's 163 tickets at $124/each. A total of $20,212.

Now, let's assume that every one of those 163 drivers was in the midst of a five mile trip (very conservative on my part - the actual car trip is likely much less than five miles). So that night, they were collectively driving 815 miles.

According to the National Highway Safety Commission, the death rate from automobile accidents is 1.5 per hundred-million miles driven. So for people driving 815 miles in a night, their chance of being killed in a wreck is .0000122

Now, how much does this cost the public? The tickets came to $20,212. I assume (again very conservatively) that the overtime for those 50 law enforcement agencies' patrols comes to $100,000. That's a transfer of money from the public to the government of $120,212. To save .0000122 lives.

So what does work out to for one life?

That means for every life saved, this night-time seat belt emphasis costs the public $9,853,442,622. (That assumes those drivers go from 0% compliance to 100% compliance - and that their accident survival rate goes from 0% to 100% - again, very conservative on my part).

If those ticketed drivers change their behavior every day for a year, it would work out to about $27-million per life saved ($9.853-billion divided by 365).

Now, I know every life is precious - but is it really worth transferring nearly $10-billion (or $27-million) from the public to the government for every life saved?

As I said, I know this is a bit of a nerdly exercise - but I truly believe that we would be better off if every aspect of government was evaluated on a cost-benefit ratio. I don't think there is any way to justify this kind of public expense given the societal benefit.

Tuesday, November 17, 2009 @ 9:45pm
Mayor Nickels: Morally, intellectually and constitutionally flawed

Lame duck Seattle Mayor Greg Nickels is on his media farewell tour (he somehow has bypassed my show). In an interview with KING-5's Jean Enersen, Nickels was asked about his illegal, unconstitutional gun ban.

Nickels' answer revealed the bizarre thinking that contributed to his ouster as mayor:

The city passed a ban on guns on city-owned property where children are likely to be, but the constitutionality of the ban is in doubt and could turn into a court battle that could cost the city a lot of money.

"You know, if we can save one person, one life, then I think it is absolutely worth it. But we lost a police officer on Halloween night. He was shot with an assault weapon. Why do we have assault weapons? No hunter needs an assault weapon. There is no purpose to that except to take human life," said Nickels.

He was asked about his unconstitutional gun ban on city property and he had the audacity to bring up the murder of Officer Brenton. A bizarre and shameful non-sequitur.

But I'm most intrigued by his statement "if we can save...one life, then I think it is absolutely worth it." First of all, there is absolutely no way to ever prove that a gun ban has saved any lives.

Secondly, is that the new liberal standard for when it's acceptable to ignore the constitution? As one listener asked Tuesday, why doesn't the mayor ban all cars in the city? That would almost certainly save lives.

How about an unconstitutional ban on homosexuality? There have been many AIDS deaths in the city - now that Mayor Nickels has established the standard that you can ignore the constitution if you can save one life, where will he stop?

Will he authorize Seattle Police to start torturing suspects to get information? After all, that might save just one life.

Ah... how easy it is to break down the idiocy of the anti-gun left.

Monday, November 16, 2009 @ 7:16pm
Crisis at the White House

Obama's Home Teleprompter Malfunctions During Family Dinner

Sunday, November 15, 2009 @ 11:12pm
Government at its worst

Last week, I spent a considerable amount of time on the show talking one of the great scourges government has unleashed on the people: Red light and speeding cameras.

Lying politicians sell the cameras as a tool to increase public safety. But study after study has shown that red light cameras actually increase the number of accidents at intersections where they've been installed.

The latest report came courtesy of KCBS-TV in Los Angeles. They looked at 32 intersections that had installed red light cameras. At 20 of the 32, the accident racte increased. Three remained the same. At only nine intersections did the accident rate decrease.

Now we learn that Seattle City Councilman Nick Licata is proposing to add more red light and speeding cameras in the city.

At least Licata isn't lying about the motivation. Instead of the bogus public safety line most politicians try to peddle, Licata admits that his plan is simply to raise revenues.

But if the cameras actually make the streets more dangerous, and their only motivation is to transfer money from citizens to politicians, isn't that combo an example of government at its absolute worst?

Friday, November 13, 2009 @ 10:20pm
A bold challenge to Seattle's illegal gun law (UPDATED WITH VIDEO)

UPDATE: Bob Warden Saturday violated Seattle's illegal gun ban. He walked into the Southwest Community Center with his holstered handgun. He was asked to leave by a Parks Department employee. And he did leave without incident. Warden now has grounds to file a lawsuit against the city of Seattle.

Warden said, "I'm not here as a Second Amendment activist. I'm here as a citizen who believes in the rule of law."

SeattlePI.com posted video of the non-incident

===================================================

The Attorney General has ruled that the Seattle gun ban on city property violates state law. Lawsuits have already been filed. Greg Nickles ego will cost taxpayers ten of thousands of dollars in a city that is already facing a huge deficit. We really should think about voting this Nickels guy out of office.

And now, a Kent man Saturday is going to directly challenge Seattle's illegal gun ban:

A Kent man has announced that he intends to carry a pistol into a West Seattle community center on Saturday to trigger a lawsuit challenging Seattle's ban on guns in public spaces.

Bob Warden, 44, announced his intentions in an e-mail Friday morning to media as well as to the City of Seattle, including the police and city attorney.

"As a courtesy, this is advance notice that at noon tomorrow, Saturday, November 14, I plan to exercise my legal right to bear arms in Seattle's Southwest Community Center, 2801 SW Thistle Street," Warden said in his e-mail. "I will be safely and securely carrying my holstered Glock pistol. I have a current valid State of Washington License to Carry Concealed."

He also described the Tacoma Rainiers baseball cap he will be wearing so that he can be spotted.

...whether he is turned away or cited for trespassing, Warden said the incident should give him standing to sue to challenge the ban.

Enjoy the last couple months of the Nickels regime, Seattle voters. It will be interesting to see how much his little political correctness stunt ends up costing taxpayers in the city.

Friday, November 13, 2009 @ 12:41am
Was SPD beating justified?

The videotaped beating of a 15 year old girl in a holding cell by a King County Sheriff's deputy supposedly inspired the murder of Officer Tim Brenton by Christopher Monfort.

In the wake of that tragedy, the Seattle Police Department finds itself in the midst of another controversy. The video shows three officers using fists, batons, a flashlight and a Taser to subdue a man at their Georgetown evidence unit.

Here's the backstory: The man is 46-year-old Daniel Macio Saunders. You may remember the incident in June when Saunders was found naked and covered in blood after allegedly breaking into a church in the Rainier Valley. Haz-mat crews had to be called out to clean up the church because Saunders has hepatitis-C.

Saunders was mistakenly released from jail four days later (how that can happen is beyond me). When he returned to the evidence unit to retrieve some personal property, the cops were there to re-arrest him.

The police say Saunders grabbed a screwdriver, tried to injure the officers, and continued to resist.

Saunders, of course, has an attorney and is considering a lawsuit.

I did not support the sheriff's deputy's violent takedown of the 15 year old girl. Last week, I went after state patrol troopers who used phony college degrees to get raises. I do not blindly support the cops. But I will tell you that I see nothing in this videotape that proves the officers did anything wrong.

Police officers can use escalating force to subdue a suspect. Saunders feet are flailing - it looks to me that he is resisting.

I'll go after bad cops when merited. But I would caution the media to not stir up anti-cop hatred with a distorted view of "facts". Two weeks ago, we saw that can have tragic consequences.

Thursday, November 12, 2009 @ 11:51am
Beaver urinates on correspondent

I'm posting this video... just because I wanted to post that headline.

Apparently that beaver feels the same way I do about TV news. It give a whole new meaning to mainstream media.

Wednesday, November 11, 2009 @ 11:33pm
The bill is coming due

We have 22% real unemployment. A shocking number of people have been financially destroyed in this economy. Their financial present is bleak - their future even bleaker.

Those people could only dream of a lifetime six-figure retirement that is guaranteed to many state workers. While huge pensions have largely disappeared from the private sector, they are still routine in government work as our politicians continue to bleed taxpayers and our economy dry.

And it's leading to a coming financial tsunami in our state. Great report Wednesday night by KING-5's Susannah Frame:

The KING 5 Investigators found some of the top retirees include former energy executive Rod Webring, who has the biggest pension of all, about $250,000 a year.

Former Gov. Gary Locke is another top pensioner, with $104,000 a year in state benefits on top of his salary with the Obama administration.

A widow of a Seattle firefighter gets about $155,000 a year, more than triple what her husband made when he retired.

There's nothing wrong with these large pensions. The employees earned them and the state constitution guarantees they'll get them, no matter what.

The problem? These old plans are about to go broke.

...(A) report shows the old pension plans are now “at risk” of "running out of assets," be flat busted, in six to eight years.

"(That would be) the scenario of poor investment returns, if we have another decade like we just had where investment returns for an entire 10-year period were about 4 percent. (Our state) assumes 8 percent. If you have a flat period of investments and the legislature maybe not being able to fully fund these pensions, that's the scenario where you could see the (oldest) plans running out of money," said Smith.

If that happens, the money - about $15 million a month and growing - will come straight out of the general fund, or from higher taxes.

"In other words we'll be writing checks from the budget to pension recipients," said Sen Joe Zarelli, Ridgefield, Wash. "And a lot of things have to go because that's a lot of money to take from the bottom line."

How much? About $2 billion a year for 20 years before the bill would begin to taper down.

With $2 billion the state could hire 27,000 additional teachers.

Or provide health insurance for every uninsured citizen in the state.

Or give free tuition to every higher education student in Washington.

Maybe government has to be more like the private sector and get rid of these pensions. The financial cataclysm is coming in our state. Does anyone care? Can you SayWA?

====================================================

Meanwhile, are you ready for a 14% hike in your electric bill?

Seattle City Light customers will see substantial rate increases next year - the question is how much?

On Thursday the City Council's budget committee will consider proposals ranging from increasing rates by 7.9 percent to almost 14 percent.People will be asked to pay more because the utility faces a $140 million deficit on total revenues and funding from more than $1 billion in bonds.

For me, this is truly taxation without representation. I don't live in Seattle - so I don't have a vote for the mayor or city council that decide these hikes. But I'm a City Light customer. "Taxation without representation is tyranny" - it was true 250 years ago - and it's true today.

=====================================================

Here's one more. Sound Transit's Rainier Valley 4.5-mile light rail line was a year behind schedule and is already $35-million over budget. And now an arbitrator will decide how much more ST will have to pay to a contractor. The additional payment will be somewhere between $23-million and $68-million.

Will Sound Transit - and its media suck-ups - continue to peddle their "on-time and under-budget" nonsense?

Wednesday, November 11, 2009 @ 12:07am
Only in Seattle

A couple weeks ago, I talked with both the Freedom From Religion Foundation and with Metro Transit about FFRF's anti-religion bus campaign they're running this Christmas season.

As I said on the show, I don't blame FFRF for its campaign. they're athiests - doing what athiests do.

I do, however, blame Metro Transit for allowing this campaign. Now that the busboards have hit the streets, many of my Christian listeners have contacted me about how offensive this campaign is to them.

One listener sent me a photo of a busboard that I have seen all over the streets the last week or so.

I continue to believe that there is no way Metro would ever allow a campaign that is so offensive towards blacks... towards gays... towards hispanics, Asians, transsexuals, or hermaphrodites.

But our government-run transit agency has no problem with a campaign that targets people of faith. The last acceptable targets of government-endorsed bigotry.

Only in Seattle.

Tuesday, November 10, 2009 @ 11:50am
Deficit?... What deficit?

I know you've heard about the billions of deficit run up by our state government again this year. But isn't it nice to know that there's still room in the budget for a $700,000 roadside art project to celebrate the new prison in Connell.

IN CONNELL!!!!!!!!!

Here's the story from the Tri-Cities Herald:

The next time you're driving north on Highway 395, keep your eyes peeled for some giant wildflowers while passing Connell.

Those majestic blooms -- made of forged steel and 12 to 17 feet high -- are part of a $620,584 public art project.

The flowers were designed by Whidbey Island artists Nick Lyle and Jean Whitesavage. The second phase will be a collection of bronze figures and stone tables and benches to be installed in September along Main Street.

More than a half-million dollars is a significant chunk of change for public art, especially for a small town like Connell, said Alice Taylor with the Washington State Arts Commission.

"This is the single largest budget for artwork," Taylor said. "It is significant for Connell, just as having the largest corrections center in the state is significant for Connell, and now it brings art and art-related construction jobs."

The Art in Public Places Program was initiated by state legislation passed in 1974, which allocates one-half of 1 percent of the state's capital construction budget for public artwork.

The money for the Connell project came from the recent $179 million expansion of the Coyote Ridge Corrections Center.

"We had the option of choosing one artist for the entire budget, or splitting the money between two," said Melissa Kelly, a Connell resident who served on the art selection committee for the project.

The committee chose two projects with the idea to enhance the city's main thoroughfare as well as capitalize on Connell's close proximity to a busy highway. The flower project was $189,000, while $431,584 was allocated for the bronze figures and stone tables and benches.

"I am thrilled to have Nick and Jean's flower sculptures come to Connell," Kelly said. "There is something deep and rich about living in a town filled with art. I am excited that my children will be exposed to art as they grow up in a small town. Sometimes jewels are hidden away in small places like Connell."

The flowers along the highway also will draw travelers' attention to Connell, said Alleda Arnold, another committee member.

"Our downtown development association has been working for years trying to get travelers to notice us," Arnold said. "Who could not notice these beautiful native flowers?"

Your tax dollars at work!