Offering frequent news and analysis from the majestic Evergreen State and beyond, The Cascadia Advocate is the Northwest Progressive Institute's unconventional perspective on world, national, and local politics.

Friday, November 30, 2007

In Brief - November 30th, 2007

A note to our readers: This post marks the beginning of a new format for our In Brief feature. Starting today, In Brief posts will be divided into three parts, focusing on local, national, and international news, including politics, business, sports, technology, weather, or other categories. We hope the new format is more insightful, organized, and comprehensive than the old jumbled style.

With that introduction done, here is today's quick news digest:

In the Pacific Northwest

PinPoint Accucast RealFeel WildGuess forecast: You will get snow this weekend. Or rain. Or both. At some point. The forecasts I've seen are more timid than our Democrats in Olympia this week.

UPDATE: Well, we do have one bold and principled forecast for our readers, courtesy of our friends at West Coast Weather:
Forecast for Saturday [for central Puget Sound] is 1 to 4 inches of snow starting in the afternoon on Saturday
There you have it. That sounds clear and unwavering.

Although this week's Democratic capitulation to deluded libertarian interests in Olympia was disappointing, there are plenty of positives that came out of it, right? Our schools, for example...oh yeah, they're still underfunded, too. But our transportation infrastructure...uhh...Well, okay, but we still take care of rich people. Our Executive Director have covered this issue far better than I could in this post, but the problems with reinstating I-747 is that it gives Tim Eyman and his malformed initiatives more credibility than they'll ever deserve.

More bad news from Oregon: Even though Beaver State voters recently decided to amend the horribly conceived Measure 37 a few weeks ago, local officials in Marion County are still issuing construction permits for large subdivisions on farm, forest, and groundwater limited land, even though the development they're permitting will become illegal on December 6th, 2007.

HineSight has the whole story.

Across the Nation
  • Trent Lott resigned this week. Lott, who won re-election to the Senate only a year ago, resigned most likely to evade the new lobbying law that will go into effect at the end of this year (i.e., the new law keeps legislators from capitalizing, as it were, on their status as lobbyists or consultants, for at least two years after their terms end). This is the same guy who loudly praised the late, racist Senator Strom Thurmond as he longed for a return to the Good Ol' Days of segregation and misogyny.
  • There were more Republican presidential debates this week, too, and Mike Huckabee came out smelling like a ... rose, I guess. The YouTube-sponsored debate, heavily orchestrated by CNN, managed to avoid any substantive issues, and highlighted a pointed religious-test question that Huckabee managed to dodge completely. This, apparently, is a skill that gets pundits all dewy-eyed.
  • Right now there remains a standoff in Rochester, NH, between a disturbed guy with a bomb (we must assume) strapped to his chest in Hillary Clinton's campaign headquarters there, and local and state authorities. Two hostages have apparently been released, but more remain. Negotiations continue....UPDATE: The situation has been resolved.
Around the World
  • The Decider “hosted” Middle East peace talks in Annapolis, MD this week. He raced through his introductions of Ehud Olmert and Mahmoud Abbas, butchering both their names, and hung around for an astounding three hours while the principals bickered for nine over tiny things, like, oh, killing each others' citizens from now until the end of time. The Decider doesn't have that sort of mental stamina, so he cut out early. I'm sure there were better things to do. These talks, of course, are expected to fail.
  • Kevin Rudd became Australia's new Prime Minister as John Howard had his rear end handed to him, along with his hat and coat, on his way out the door. Rudd wasted no time today in letting his country know that their combat troops in Iraq would be removed by the middle of next year.
  • Venezuelan leader Hugo Chavez is urging his countrymen to approve a constitutional amendment that will, among other, things, abolish presidential term limits and end the autonomy of the Central Bank. A paranoid Chavez, who fears opponents may try to "sabotage the vote" through violent protests, is threatening to cut off oil shipments to North America if he suspects U.S. involvement. Chavez acts and speaks as arrogantly as George W. Bush. Those two definitely deserve each other...
If you have something to add, please leave a comment.

Comments:

Blogger sidereal said...


Kevin Rudd became Australia's new Prime Minister as Gordon Brown ..


Should be John Howard

November 30, 2007 9:21 PM  

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