Offering asides, recommended links, blogworthy quotations, and more, In Brief is the Northwest Progressive Institute's microblog of world, national, and local politics.

Friday, November 2nd, 2018
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Senator Patty Kuderer explains how a state bank - one of her ideas to improve our fiscal strength - could lower the costs of borrowing for Washington's local governments

Senator Patty Kuderer explains how a state bank – one of her ideas to improve our fiscal strength – could lower the costs of borrowing for Washington's local governments

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Friday, November 2nd, 2018
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Party switcher Rodney Tom argued at a recent candidate forum that he's the best fit for the 48th District in the Washington State Senate... even though it rejected his candidacy in the August Top Two election

Party switcher Rodney Tom argued at a recent candidate forum that he's the best fit for the 48th District in the Washington State Senate… even though it rejected his candidacy in the August Top Two election

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Thursday, November 1st, 2018
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Senator Maria Cantwell speaks at a Get Out The Vote rally following the Sounders' weekend victory over the San Jose Earthquakes

Senator Maria Cantwell speaks at a Get Out The Vote rally following the Sounders' weekend victory over the San Jose Earthquakes

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Thursday, November 1st, 2018
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Lynn Allen Award honoree Paul Eaton shares his thoughts on bringing Muslims and veterans together to expand freedom in America

Lynn Allen Award honoree Paul Eaton shares his thoughts on bringing Muslims and veterans together to expand freedom in America

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Thursday, November 1st, 2018
Quotation

I am very excited to vote for Andrew Gillum. It is not that you have conservative evangelicals suddenly becoming liberal. It is more a realizing that you could be practicing something that isn’t even Christian at all.

— Democratic evangelical voter Alexandria Beightol, twenty-two, of Marco Island, Florida (“God Is going to have to forgive me”: Young evangelicals speak out).

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Thursday, November 1st, 2018
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State Representative Kristine Reeves listens to a question at OneAmerica's Not To Be Ignored town hall

State Representative Kristine Reeves listens to a question at OneAmerica's Not To Be Ignored town hall

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Thursday, November 1st, 2018
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Varisha Khan moderates OneAmerica's Not To Be Ignored town hall

Varisha Khan moderates OneAmerica's Not To Be Ignored town hall

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Wednesday, October 31st, 2018
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A scary future awaits us if we don't vote! Get your ballot in and then make sure your family and friends have voted. #HappyHalloween from NPI!

A scary future awaits us if we don't vote! Get your ballot in and then make sure your family and friends have voted. #HappyHalloween from NPI!

# Permalink :: Posted at 9:07 PM | Submit to Reddit
Monday, October 29th, 2018
Recommended Link

Security-challenged firms are gatekeepers of U.S. elections

Required reading from the Associated Press’ cybersecurity writer: “Three privately held companies sell and service more than ninety percent of U.S. elections systems. But the companies have long stressed convenience for their customers over product security, security experts and elections officials say.”

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Friday, October 26th, 2018
Video Clip

Watch President Barack Obama rally activists in Milwaukee for Democratic candidates up and down the ballot Friday afternoon.

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Wednesday, October 24th, 2018
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Inside King County Elections: Director Julie Wise signs a form certifying that King County successfully carried out its 2018 general election Logic & Accuracy Test

Inside King County Elections: Director Julie Wise signs a form certifying that King County successfully carried out its 2018 general election Logic & Accuracy Test

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Wednesday, October 24th, 2018
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Inside King County Elections: State of the art scanners are used to create images of ballots; the manufacturer of these ImageTracDS 1210 scanners says they are capable of capturing "up to 210 pages per minute (ppm) at 200 dots per inch (dpi) or 300 dpi"

Inside King County Elections: State of the art scanners are used to create images of ballots; the manufacturer of these ImageTracDS 1210 scanners says they are capable of capturing "up to 210 pages per minute (ppm) at 200 dots per inch (dpi) or 300 dpi"

# Permalink :: Posted at 4:32 PM | Submit to Reddit
Wednesday, October 24th, 2018
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Inside King County Elections: After test ballots have been scanned and tabulated during a Logic & Accuracy Test, the results are checked by staff and observers to confirm accuracy

Inside King County Elections: After test ballots have been scanned and tabulated during a Logic & Accuracy Test, the results are checked by staff and observers to confirm accuracy

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Wednesday, October 24th, 2018
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Inside King County Elections: Staff test the county's scanning machines to verify that they are operating correctly; it's one of the steps in the state-required Logic & Accuracy Test

Inside King County Elections: Staff test the county's scanning machines to verify that they are operating correctly; it's one of the steps in the state-required Logic & Accuracy Test

# Permalink :: Posted at 10:56 AM | Submit to Reddit
Wednesday, October 24th, 2018
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Inside King County Elections: Director Julie Wise shows election observers a copy of the state's Voter Intent manual, which helps elections workers ensure that even marked up ballots get counted

Inside King County Elections: Director Julie Wise shows election observers a copy of the state's Voter Intent manual, which helps elections workers ensure that even marked up ballots get counted

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Tuesday, October 23rd, 2018
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Inside King County Elections: Staff conduct a state-required Logic & Accuracy Test two weeks ahead of the November 2018 general election

Inside King County Elections: Staff conduct a state-required Logic & Accuracy Test two weeks ahead of the November 2018 general election

# Permalink :: Posted at 10:38 PM | Submit to Reddit
Tuesday, October 23rd, 2018
Quotation

The central issue is we’re developing into a plutocracy… We’ve got an enormous number of enormously rich people that have convinced themselves that they’re rich because they’re smart and constructive. And they don’t like government, and they don’t like to pay taxes.

— Paul Volcker, at ninety-one, sees ‘a hell of a mess in every direction’ (Andrew Ross Sorkin, The New York Times)

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Sunday, October 14th, 2018
Video Clip

Highlights from the third episode of Saturday Night Live’s forty-fourth season:

The cold open: Donald Trump (Alec Baldwin) meets with Kanye West (Chris Redd) and Jim Brown (Kenan Thompson) in the Oval Office.

Read More »

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Thursday, October 11th, 2018
Chat Transcript

After publicly cursing out her son, Pam Roach blames Democratic activists for her behavior

The following is a transcript of an exchange that occurred at an October 5th retreat of the Republican-dominated Pierce County Council between Pam “Who Moved My Flowers!?” Roach, Derek Young, and Roach’s son Dan.

PAM ROACH: Maybe we should get back and ask what the motivation was, which is fairly obvious, for providing information that had nothing to do with what was in front of us — and it was wrong.

PAUL BOCCHI (senior legislative analyst): And we will have a lot more discussion about that next week.

DEREK YOUNG: Since the executive’s office isn’t here to defend itself —

PAM ROACH: They’re sitting right here, but OK.

DEREK YOUNG: What you’re saying isn’t accurate, and I need to say something. So I don’t think it was ever represented that Franklin Pierce High School was in the Bethel School District. We did have a letter supporting from Bethel School District, and the reason was that Bethel School District is immediately adjacent to it. This facility will serve that area. So it’s not completely unrelated as it was claimed. I understand that you misunderstood that …

PAM ROACH: No —

[CROSSTALK]

DAN ROACH: [Pounding gavel] Stop, no, stop, both of you are done. Stop.

PAM ROACH: I’m gonna put you —

DAN ROACH: Stop. We’re not even gonna talk about this.

PAM ROACH Go ahead and do it again.

DAN ROACH: Just stop.

PAM ROACH: (expletive) you. I’m leaving. Look —

DAN ROACH: Really?

PAM ROACH: Well Dan, what is the deal here? He’s misrepresenting me.

DAN ROACH: No, we’re not having the conversation. We’re talking about a budget.

PAM ROACH: He is misrepresenting me, and I’m tired of it.

DAN ROACH: [Pounding gavel] We’re done. Continue please, Paul.

Following the exchange, Roach sent a statement to The News Tribune of Tacoma in which she blamed Democratic activists for her behavior.

Earlier today, during a council event that was held off-campus, I got very passionate during a political discussion with my fellow councilmembers, including my son Dan. In the heat of the moment I used harsh words that I regret. It was a mistake. I love my son dearly but sometimes we have political disagreements. Nonetheless, that’s no excuse for harsh language. It seems I’ve been listening to too many Democrat protesters lately.

So much for taking responsibility for her actions.

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Thursday, October 11th, 2018
Aside

Abolition of death penalty in Washington draws attention from national, world media

Here’s a roundup of the coverage of today’s historic victory for human rights:

Note that stories published by local media are not included above.

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Wednesday, October 10th, 2018
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Senator Maria Cantwell listens to a question at the first 2018 U.S. Senate debate, sponsored by the Washington Debate Coalition (Photo: Andrew Villeneuve/NPI)

Senator Maria Cantwell listens to a question at the first 2018 U.S. Senate debate, sponsored by the Washington Debate Coalition (Photo: Andrew Villeneuve/NPI)

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