Earlier tonight, President Obama laid out his case justifying the need for U.S. military intervention in Libya, where coalition forces under the auspices of a United Nations resolution have been knocking out the air defenses of its brutal dictator. The United States and its allies are working to prevent Muammar al-Gaddafi from continuing to kill […]
Posted inEconomic Security, Policy Topics, Public Planning
Tim Eyman gloms onto another anti-red light camera measure — this time in Redmond
I’ve lost track of the number of times I’ve been asked (usually in conversation) what motivated me to create Permanent Defense more than nine years ago. Regular readers are undoubtedly familiar with the story of PD’s founding, because I’ve told it or referred to it many times over the years. The catalyst, of course, was Tim […]
Posted inEconomic Security, Humor & Satire, Policy Topics
Costco to Washington State Legislature: “Have we got a deal for you…”
From: Costco To: Members, Washington State Legislature RE: Your financial troubles Dear lawmakers, As one of Washington’s largest publicly-traded companies, Costco feels an obligation to selflessly assist its state in weathering the ongoing fiscal storm that has had such a devastating impact on citizens and consumers alike. Last year the voters of our state rejected […]
Posted inPolicy Topics, Technology
Mozilla releases Firefox 4
We at NPI would like to extend our heartfelt congratulations to the team at Mozilla, who released Firefox 4 this morning after laboring for many weeks and months to develop this latest and greatest version of the world’s best web browser. This is a huge accomplishment. Having tried out the betas and the release candidate, […]
Posted inEconomic Security, Policy Topics
AT&T swallows T‑Mobile in $39 billion deal
And then there were three: AT&T announced on Sunday that it has agreed to buy T‑Mobile USA from Deutsche Telekom for $39 billion in cash and stock, in one of the biggest mergers since the onset of the financial crisis. The deal will dramatically bolster AT&T’s footprint in the country, adding an additional 46.5 million […]
Posted inAnnouncements
Tim Eyman tries to rile up his supporters with Permanent Defense analysis
On Wednesday, we published a report over at Permanent Defense analyzing Tim Eyman’s first two months of fundraising, entitled, “Voters Want More Choices begins 2011 with no wealthy benefactor in sight”. That report apparently hit a nerve, because Tim Eyman is presently sending out a mass-email to his supporters quoting it in full and asking […]
Posted inPolicy Topics, Public Planning
Republicans continue assault on emergency preparedness, even after Tohoku megaquake
Readers may recall our ire was raised during the Republican response to President Obama’s 2009 State of the Union Address, when Louisiana Governor Bobby Jindal dismissed funding for volcano monitoring as a triviality. As residents of the Pacific Northwest, we are all too aware of the presence of volcanoes in our region and the destruction […]
Posted inAnnouncements, Events
Join Peter Steinbrueck and Reuven Carlyle at NPI’s 2011 Spring Fundraising Gala
Back in February, when we first announced the date for our 2011 Spring Fundraising Gala, we promised that more details about the event were on their way, including our speaking lineup. It’s taken some time to put the program together, and I want all of our loyal supporters to know that we didn’t make this […]
Posted inTechnology
Microsoft releases Internet Explorer 9
After many months of development, Microsoft has finally finished working on Internet Explorer 9, which was released to market a couple of hours ago (9 AM Pacific Time). This iteration of the browser represents Microsoft’s first real attempt to make standards support a priority, and sports some new useful features. If you’re running Windows Vista […]
Posted inEconomic Security, Litigation
Recall efforts well underway in Wisconsin, Democratic Party says
Heartening news from the Badger State: In another sign that the Wisconsin GOP’s quick passage of the bill to roll back bargaining rights is only causing the fight to escalate, Dems have now collected over 45 percent of the signatures necessary to hold recall elections for eight GOP state senators, the Wisconsin Democratic Party tells me. […]
Posted inPolicy Topics, Public Planning
Aftermath of Tohoku megaquake demonstrates the folly of nuclear power
Two days have elapsed since Japan was pummeled by one of the largest earthquakes humanity has ever documented. In that time, we’ve begun to see the tragic and painful extent of the disaster. The earthquake (which registered 8.9 on the moment magnitude scale) and the ensuing tsunami it spawned have laid waste to several previously […]