stevedeshazer
stevedeshazer's JournalVancouver (WA) considers ordinance to keep bongs, pipes hidden at convenience stores
It soon might be a little harder to know whether your local convenience store carries glass bongs, pipes and other drug paraphernalia.
The Vancouver city attorney's office is working on a draft ordinance that would require convenience stores to keep drug paraphernalia out of sight and in a secure area -- and to sell it only to people 18 and older.
The City Council could consider the ordinance as early as March. It's currently being reviewed by Clark County's government.
<snip>
The ordinance would be a victory for PREVENT!, a local substance-abuse-prevention coalition, which has been pursuing restrictions on the sale of drug paraphernalia for two years. The organization made a presentation to the Vancouver City Council in January, where it urged the council to pass an ordinance that would prohibit children from buying paraphernalia. Tacoma and Spokane have passed similar ordinances.
http://www.oregonlive.com/clark-county/index.ssf/2012/02/vancouver_will_consider_an_ord.html
Ummm, guys, do you see all that BEER and TOBACCO in there? You gonna hide all that from the recovering addicts and the innocent kiddies too?
Pointing the bony finger of indignation at you,
Steve
I'm losing track of all the Republicans who are in hot water in the last couple of weeks.
There are so many of them that I get confused and start conflating them with one another so that my brain just thinks,
"Generic Republican = Lying Crook".
If more Americans see this obvious trend, the better off we all are.
Oregon Republican who ran against Sen. Ron Wyden in 2010 busted for election law violations
Busted! Jim Huffman to pay $30k fine for violating federal election lawshttp://www.blueoregon.com/2012/02/busted-jim-huffman-pay-30k-fine-violating-federal-election-laws/
<snip>
It was one of the strange little mysteries of the 2010 election cycle. Jim Huffman, the law professor and GOP opponent of Senator Ron Wyden, disclosed in his quarterly reports that he'd loaned a total of $1.35 million to his campaign.
The only problem? Previous disclosures had listed his total non-home assets as between $500k and $1m, and he didn't disclose a loan against his house. So, where did the money come from?
Now, we know. As we all suspected, it was from his wife, Leslie Spencer. And because their assets were not jointly held, a contribution or a loan from her in excess of $2400 is illegal. So, the DPO filed a complaint.
And now, Huffman has been fined $29,900 by the Federal Elections Commission (pdf). The FEC noted that Huffman "reported the receipt of six loans from Huffman’s personal funds that were not from his personal funds because, based on Huffman’s personal financial disclosure statement, Huffman did not have sufficient personal funds to make the loans." </snip>
Republicans in this state whine and whine they just can't catch a break and win just one election here. Besides in freaking Klamath Falls or Roseburg or Molalla or some such backwater place.
Hey Oregon GOP!
It's because you don't deserve a break because you're a bunch of crooks and tax cheats! And most people know it. The only ones who don't listen to Limbaugh and Hannity and Lars Larson.
Good luck in November. You're gonna need it.
The Washington state Senate just passed same-sex marriage.
48 Yeas, 41 Nays!!!
Governor Gregoire has already said she sign the bill.
I think now it goes to the House.
Edited to add: It goes to the House tomorrow, where there is enough support to pass.
Congratulations, Washingtonians!
Hands.
Look at them. Yours, and those of others.
Mine are pretty beat up. I'm pushing sixty, and now they don't always do what I command them to do. And my legs? Well, that's a whole 'nother post.
I grew up in a farming family. Loggers, too. I saw hands missing fingers many times. No one saw this as strange, just a part of life in our world.
I still lift heavy shit, rain or shine or snow and ice. My hands have aged, just like the rest of me. I can still do it; it just takes longer after 45-50 years of work than when I was perfectly invulnerable at age 12-14.
My hands ache some days, and so do my knees and ankles. My doctor has helped me a great deal with medication and therapy. I'm one of the lucky ones. I have health insurance that is still marginally affordable. And I think I can retire in five years. I am very lucky.
Now, take a look at Mitt Romney's hands. Newt Gingrich's hands. Hell, the hands of any softy Republican or Democrat in Congress, the legion of DC lobbyists, and the velvety soft hands of the pundits who make big bucks to tell us all what we think.
Their soft hands remind me of those of the short, defensive character Curley in "Of Mice and Men".
Curley wore a glove filled with Vaseline to keep his hand soft for his wife.
Romney is a softy. He's never had to work a real goddamned day in his life in actual labor.
I wish I had a picture of Willard Romney's soft hands...hands that stole the dreams of many honest hard-working folks like you and me.
I respect blisters, and 30-hour work weeks going forward.
With hardened hands,
Steve.
"Further proof: that All the racism is on the left"
This was the subject line of the e-mail I received today from my 'conservative' co-worker, a guy who does the same job as me and someone I consider a friend.
His proof?
A grainy video from scumbag Andrew Breitbart's site. That's right. Breitbart.
http://www.breitbart.tv/msnbc-analyst-compares-az-governor-to-segregation-era-racist-screaming-at-black-kids/
The video was of a clip on Lawrence O'Donnell's show. Melissa Harris-Perry compared the photograph of Arizona Governor Jan Brewer sticking her bony finger of indignation into President Obama's face with the photograph of Elizabeth Eckford attempting to enter a school in Little Rock on September 4, 1957 with a bunch of racists screaming at her.
This is his proof.
I have countered his ridiculous assertion many times to no avail.
So I am asking fellow DUers, can you give me some examples that may counter his ridiculous assertion that "all racism comes from the left" ?
I'll be happy to pass them on.
At this very moment, righties are crafting their spin against the President.
By tomorrow, both wings of the broken Republican party, whether you are a Willard Romney Wall Streeter, or a Newt Gingrich insider, Fox News and Rush Limbaugh will tell these zombies what to think.
Or not.
President Obama nailed it.
I know many DUers disagree. Some here left DU because of it.
My opinion is,
What Americans Keep Ignoring About Finland's School Success
The Scandinavian country is an education superpower because it values equality more than excellence.*note: Finland is not Scandinavian, but it is Nordic - sd
The small Nordic country of Finland used to be known -- if it was known for anything at all -- as the home of Nokia, the mobile phone giant. But lately Finland has been attracting attention on global surveys of quality of life -- Newsweek ranked it number one last year -- and Finland's national education system has been receiving particular praise, because in recent years Finnish students have been turning in some of the highest test scores in the world.
Finland's schools owe their newfound fame primarily to one study: the PISA survey, conducted every three years by the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD). The survey compares 15-year-olds in different countries in reading, math, and science. Finland has ranked at or near the top in all three competencies on every survey since 2000, neck and neck with superachievers such as South Korea and Singapore. In the most recent survey in 2009 Finland slipped slightly, with students in Shanghai, China, taking the best scores, but the Finns are still near the very top. Throughout the same period, the PISA performance of the United States has been middling, at best.
Compared with the stereotype of the East Asian model -- long hours of exhaustive cramming and rote memorization -- Finland's success is especially intriguing because Finnish schools assign less homework and engage children in more creative play. All this has led to a continuous stream of foreign delegations making the pilgrimage to Finland to visit schools and talk with the nation's education experts, and constant coverage in the worldwide media marveling at the Finnish miracle.
More here: http://www.theatlantic.com/national/archive/2011/12/what-americans-keep-ignoring-about-finlands-school-success/250564/
I'm not very religious, but I could use your help this Christmas.
My brother, my only sibling, is dying of stage four glioblastoma, the worst type of brain cancer.
He's gone through a horrible divorce, the death of our mom, and now the realization that he won't be around for his three young kids.
All in the last fucking horrible year.
He's my little brother, just 50 years old.
The docs say he has just a few weeks to live. He's been through all the treatments that are standard care, radiation and chemotherapy, and infusions of Avastin.
So, my family is heading out this Christmas to spend it with him one last time.
And Monday, we will be near courtside with our sons to see the season opener of our beloved Blazers vs. the Sixers.
Next week, if he makes it, we'll take our boys to the coast over New Year's weekend.
I don't mean to be a downer, but thoughts and karma and yeah, I guess prayers would be helpful.
Peace and love to all.
Hug someone you care about, RIGHT FUCKING NOW, because it might be your last chance.
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