No spitting in Seattle
Parks??? The Nanny state tries to get bigger.
Seattle... the city that trying to ban plastic shopping
bags and bottled water, has moved on to other things... its
getting pretty crazy!
Board to consider ban on smoking, spitting in Seattle
parks
Smoking, spitting and using
flammable liquids would be among activities banned in
Seattle's parks under a proposed code of conduct presented
to Park Board members Thursday night
The list of rules in Seattle
parks may be about to grow.
A proposed ban on
spitting in parks — one of 13 behaviors Seattle Parks and
Recreation wants to regulate, including a ban on smoking on
its grounds — already is generating heated public comment.
The proposal was presented Thursday night to the park
commissioners.
But after reports about the proposed
ban, even before the meeting, commissioners were getting
e-mail.
"Spitting? Are the players not allowed to
chew tobacco and spit sunflower seeds?" said one e-mail to
the parks board obtained by The Times. "Why not farting?
It's the big elephant in the room.
"While we're at
it, we should use the opportunity to ban women's hair spray
and other bodily spray that in total smells like DDT."
MORE:
http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/localnews/2010798342_newsmoking15m.html
Could it be? Is
Teddy's old seat going to a Republican???
I'm sure hoping this is just a preview of things to
come...
Massachusetts: 'Bottom
has fallen out' of Coakley's polls; Dems prepare to explain
defeat, protect Obama
By Byron York
Washington Examiner
Here in
Massachusetts, as well as in Washington, a growing sense of
gloom is setting in among Democrats about the fortunes of
Democratic Senate candidate Martha Coakley. "I have heard
that in the last two days the bottom has fallen out of her
poll numbers," says one well-connected Democratic
strategist. In her own polling, Coakley is said to be around
five points behind Republican Scott Brown. "If she's not six
or eight ahead going into the election, all the intensity is
on the other side in terms of turnout," the Democrat says.
"So right now, she is destined to lose."
Intensifying
the gloom, the Democrat says, is the fact that the same
polls showing Coakley falling behind also show President
Obama with a healthy approval rating in the state. "With
Obama at 60 percent in Massachusetts, this shouldn't be
happening, but it is," the Democrat says.
Given those
numbers, some Democrats, eager to distance Obama from any
electoral failure, are beginning to compare Coakley to
Creigh Deeds, the losing Democratic candidate in the
Virginia governor's race last year. Deeds ran such a
lackluster campaign, Democrats say, that his defeat could be
solely attributed to his own shortcomings, and should not be
seen as a referendum on President Obama's policies or those
of the national Democratic party.
The same sort of
thinking is emerging in Massachusetts. "This is a Creigh
Deeds situation," the Democrat says. "I don't think it says
that the Obama agenda is a problem. I think it says, 1) that
she's a terrible candidate, 2) that she ran a terrible
campaign, 3) that the climate is difficult but she should
have been able to overcome it, and 4) that Democrats beware
-- you better run good campaigns, or you're going to lose."
With the election still four days away, Democrats are
still hoping that "something could happen" to change the
dynamics of the race. But until that thing happens, the
situation as it exists today explains Barack Obama's
decision not to travel to Massachusetts to campaign for
Coakley. "If the White House thinks she can win, Obama will
be there," the Democrat says. "If they don't think she can
win, he won't be there."
Read more at the
Washington Examiner:
http://www.washingtonexaminer.com/opinion/blogs/beltway-confidential/Massachusetts-Bottom-has-fallen-out-of-Coakleys-poll-numbers-Dems-prepare-to-explain-defeat-protect-Obama-81681862.html#ixzz0cq74oqIO
Over the weekend, he made a pretty serious gaffe... I'm sure
this isn't going to win her any friends!
Read it here...
http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2010/01/16/coakley-offends-red-sox-nation-calls-schilling-yankee-fan/
With our state facing the
worst deficit in its history, State Senate proposes new law
to ban texting.
Sen.
Tracey Eide has boxes full of studies that speak to the
dangers of using cellphones while driving, with texting
carrying the most risk.
"It's the equivalent of
driving drunk," she said, referring to a study last year by
the Virginia Tech Transportation Institute that found when
you send a text while driving, you've probably just taken
your eyes off the road for up to 6 seconds and traveled the
length of a football field.
The Federal Way Democrat
has renewed her fight to further crack down on drivers who
use handheld cellphones, promoting legislation that would
allow officers to pull over a driver when they see it.
"It's a safety issue," said Eide. "I drive every day. My
family drives every day."
MORE TO THE STORY:
http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/localnews/2010815008_texting17m.html?syndication=rss
Is IE secure 'enough'?
I certainly hope so!
Microsoft Corp. on Saturday rejected a German government
warning against using Internet Explorer until a patch can be
developed to fix a security flaw, saying the problem is not
a threat to general users.
The Federal Office for
Information Security, or BSI, told Germans to avoid use of
all versions of Explorer after the security hole led to
hacks against Google and others.
Microsoft confirmed
the weakness earlier this week after Google announced that
hackers in China had pried into e-mail accounts of human
rights activists. The company said, however, that the hole
could be closed by setting the browser's Internet security
zone to "high."
But the BSI insisted that such
measures were not sufficient.
"Using Internet
Explorer in 'secure mode,' as well as turning off Active
Scripting makes attacks more difficult, but can not fully
prevent them," BSI said in a statement released Friday.
Thomas Baumgaertner, a Microsoft spokesman in Germany,
said the company was aware of the warning, but did not agree
with it, pointing out that the attacks on Google were by
highly motivated people with a very specific agenda.
"These were not attacks against general users or consumers,"
Baumgaertner said. "There is no threat to the general user,
consequently we do not support this warning.
MORE:
http://www.nwcn.com/news/business/German-government-warns-against-MS-Explorer-use-81897297.html
Highway 18 Landslide pics
Highway 18 is a fairly major route, used by truckers and
people alike to bypass a good portion of the Seattle Metro
area when heading South from I-90. Its been closed
since Friday.
Here's a statement from the WSDOT released on Friday
about the slide:
The westbound lanes of State
Route 18 will remain closed until at least Wednesday, Jan.
20, after a second slide brought down approximately 1,500
cubic yards of mud, rocks and debris across all westbound
lanes of the highway Thursday evening, Jan. 14.
WSDOT will keep the road closed until it is safe for workers
and drivers. WSDOT has a crew posted near eastbound SR 18 in
case the hillside begins to move, threatening eastbound
lanes. Crews can close the lanes on a moment’s notice.
Debris still covers all lanes of westbound SR 18, trees
need to be removed from the hillside and other repairs are
necessary before WSDOT crews can safely reopen the highway.
With more rain on the way, crews will have to wait for signs
that the hillside has stabilized before it is safe for crews
to work in the area.
“This area has a history of
slides and the hillside is very steep. The area where crews
need to stage and work is narrow and close to the highway,”
said WSDOT Regional Administrator Lorena Eng. “We will do
everything we can to get the highway open quickly because we
understand how important this route is – especially to
freight interests. But we also need to make sure we don’t
compromise the safety of drivers or our crews in the
process.”
A detour route has been established:
Here are some pictures from the Landslide on Highway 18.
The comments are all from the WSDOT
From the WSDOT
Greetings!
