Seattle Is Dying! (with 3/22 Update)

3/22/19 Update: Here's what ShiftWA post in their news email for today.

“This documentary that KOMO has put together has changed the conversation in a real way and I think that’s going to have an impact here in the legislature. It’s going to have an impact in city councils throughout the Puget Sound Region.” That’s what Sen. Hans Zeiger (R-Puyallup) had to say about a provocative documentary by KOMO News reporter Eric Johnson on the homelessness crisis. Zeiger is calling for special committee work sessions to address the issues highlighted in the special. (KOMO News)

I worked in downtown Seattle as an event guard after retiring from full-time teaching for the past 9 years. I first worked at CenturyLink Field during the Seahawks and Sounder games, then at Safeco Field during the Mariners season until last summer. It was during the last few years - 3 to 4 - in which I saw the explosion of homelessness hit the Soda District around these two sports stadiums. I also heard radio talk show hosts discussing this growing problem.

One particular day has always stuck out more prominently in my mind, than the almost daily exposure to tents, R.V.s and trash piles, when I was leaving the job at Safeco Field after a game ended. I was walking on the overpass of Royal Brougham toward my vehicle and overheard a man near me on his cell phone telling someone in another city the following, "Oh man, this place is terrible! There is filth everywhere. It's worse than home and I don't recommend coming here as a tourist!" It was then that I realized this situation was probably causing Seattle's tourist industry millions every year.

Just this evening for the first time, I was exposed to a very well produced news documentary, produced by KOMO TV - an ABC affiliate station here in Seattle - titled "Seattle Is Dying" which looks at what is happening to this once "jewel of the Northwest" that is rapidly turning into a third-world looking city. If you've not yet seen it, you need to. If you have, then I ask that you share the link for it with your email friends.

As someone who has witnessed this sad state of affairs occur, I pray that things don't get any worse than they already are before things begin to change for the better; as I believe it eventually will. For I am already kept busy every day praying for my older daughter's protection as a worker in the heart of downtown Seattle as a pastry chef.

Points Based on Facts

The Legacy of Pres. Obama's Administration: Part 2

The following post is material provided by a good email friend I went to high school with many decades ago. It provides a little known, and now mostly forgotten, insight into just how upside down and inside out much of what the Media (D) is doing to sully the public's impression of our current President. As the opening paragraphs point out, the irony of it is that this same Media (D) gave the public an impression that the former President could do no wrong. As the reader will learn here, that was far from the truth.

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The sanctimony of Andrew McCabe and those in league with him, the media enablers, Pelosi, Schiff, Schumer, the whole gang of “Trump holocaust deniers” acting in visible and hidden concert, without bombs or water boarding, were intent on blowing up a duly elected President and seizing the reins of government.

Theissen’s book accurately depicts Obama as an intriguer against AMERICAN interests or as a useful idiot, stupefyingly occupying the Oval Office.

We thought the threat he posed to AMERICAN interests was eliminated by a fair, free and miraculous election,  but now we know the danger not only persisted upon Trumps election, but increased exponentially. The villains were the enemy within who engaged in tactics compared to which water boarding (legitimate enhanced cross -examination) was child’s play.

Washington wrote of his belief in the intercession of a benevolent Providence as the cause of the victory of the American Revolution and the birth of our Constitutional  government. It seems as if that same Providence guides us still, that our republic endures, and Franklin’s words echo encouragingly down the centuries, “ You have a republic, if you can keep it.”

As President George W. Bush's top speech writer, Marc Thiessen was provided unique access to the CIA program used in interrogating top Al Qaeda terrorists, including the mastermind of the 9/11 attack, Khalid Sheikh Mohammad (KSM). Now, his riveting new book, “Courting Disaster", *How the CIA Kept America Safe*, has been published.

Here is an excerpt;

"Just before dawn on March 1, 2003, two dozen heavily armed Pakistani tactical assault forces move in and surround a safe house in Rawalpindi. A few hours earlier they had received a text message from an informant inside the house. It read: "I am with KSM."

Bursting in, they find the  disheveled mastermind of the 9/11 attacks, Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, in his bedroom. He is taken into custody. In the safe house, they find a treasure trove of computers, documents, cell phones and other valuable "pocket litter."

Once in custody, KSM is defiant. He refuses to answer questions, informing his captors that he will tell them everything when he gets to America and sees his lawyer. But KSM is not taken to America to see a lawyer.  Instead
he is taken to a secret CIA "black site" in an undisclosed location.

Upon arrival, KSM finds himself in the complete control of Americans. He does not know where he is, how long he will be there, or what his fate will be. Despite his circumstances, KSM still refuses to talk. He spews contempt at his interroga-tors, telling them Americans are weak, lack resilience, and are unable to do what is necessary to prevent the terrorists from succeeding in their goals. He has trained to resist interrogation.

When he is asked for information about future attacks, he tells his questioners scornfully: "Soon, you will know."

It becomes clear he will not reveal the information using traditional interrogation techniques. So he undergoes a series of "enhanced interrogation techniques" approved for use only on the most high-value detainees. The techniques include waterboarding.

He begins telling his CIA de-briefers about active al Qaeda plots to launch attacks against the United States and other Western targets. He holds classes for CIA officials, using a chalkboard to draw a picture of al Qaeda's operating structure, financing, communications, and logistics. He
identifies al Qaeda travel routes and safe havens, and helps
intelligence officers make sense of documents and computer records seized in terrorist raids.

He identifies voices in intercepted telephone calls, and helps
officials understand the meaning of coded terrorist communi-cations.

He provides information that helps our intelligence community capture other high-ranking terrorists.

KSM's questioning, and that of other captured terrorists, produces more than 6,000 intelligence reports, which are shared across the intelligence community, as well as with our allies across the world. In one of these reports, KSM describes in detail the revisions he made to his failed 1994-1995 plan known as the "Bojinka plot" to blow up a dozen airplanes carrying some 4,000 passengers over the Pacific Ocean.

Years later, an observant CIA officer notices the activities of a cell being followed by British authorities appear to match KSM's description of his plans for a Bojinka-style attack. In an operation that involves unprecedented intelligence cooperation between our countries, British officials proceed to unravel the plot.

On the night of Aug. 9, 2006 they launch a series of raids in a northeast London suburb that lead to the arrest of two dozen al Qaeda terrorist suspects. They find a USB thumb-drive in the pocket of one of the men with security details for Heathrow airport, and information on seven Trans-Atlantic
flights that were scheduled to take off within hours of each other:

* United Airlines Flight 931 to San Francisco departing at 2:15 PM

* Air Canada Flight 849 to Toronto departing at 3:00 PM

* Air Canada Flight 865 to Montreal departing at 3:15 PM

* United Airlines Flight 959 to Chicago departing at 3:40 PM

* United Airlines Flight 925 to Washington departing at 4:20 PM

* American Airlines Flight 131 to New York departing at 4:35 PM

* American Airlines Flight 91 to Chicago departing at 4:50 PM


They seize bomb-making equipment and hydrogen peroxide to make liquid explosives. And they find the chilling martyrdom videos the suicide bombers had prepared. Today, if you asked an average person on the street what they
know about the 2006 airlines plot, most would not be able to tell you much.

Few Americans  are aware of the fact al Qaeda had planned to mark the fifth anniversary of 9/11 with an attack of similar scope and magnitude.  And still fewer realize the terrorists' true intentions in this plot were uncovered thanks to critical information obtained through the interrogation of the man who conceived it: Khalid Sheikh Mohammed.

This is only one of the many attacks stopped with the help of the CIA interrogation program established by the Bush Administration in the wake of the Sept. 11, 2001 terrorist attacks.

In addition to helping break up these specific terrorist cells and plots, CIA questioning provided our intelligence community with an unparalleled body of information about al Qaeda until the program was temporarily suspended in 2006, intelligence officials say, well over half of the information
our government had about al Qaeda-how it operates, how it moves money, how it communicates, how it recruits operatives, how it picks targets, how it plans and carries out attacks-came from the interrogation of terrorists in CIA custody.

Former CIA Director George Tenet has declared: "I know this program has saved lives. I know we've disrupted plots. I know this program alone is worth more than what the FBI, the Central Intelligence Agency, and the National Security Agency put together have been able to tell us."

Former CIA Director Mike Hayden has said: "The facts of the case are that the use of these techniques against these terrorists made us safer.

It really did work." Even Barack Obama's Director of National Intelligence, Dennis Blair, has acknowledged: "High-value information came from interrogations in which those methods were used and provided a deeper understanding of the al Qaeda organization that was attacking this country."

Leon Panetta, Obama's CIA Director, has said: "Important information was gathered from these detainees. It provided information that was acted upon.

John Brennan, Obama's Homeland Security Advisor, when asked in an interview if enhanced-interrogation techniques were necessary to keep America safe, replied : "Would the U. S. be handicapped if the CIA was not, in fact, able to carry out these types of detention and debriefing activities, I would
say yes."

*On Jan. 22, 2009, President Obama issued Executive Order 13491, closing the CIA program and directing that, henceforth, all interrogations by U. S. personnel must follow the techniques contained in the Army Field Manual.*

The morning of the announcement, Mike Hayden was still in his post as CIA Director, He called White House Counsel Greg Craig and told him bluntly: "You didn't ask, but this is the CIA officially non-concurring". The
president went ahead anyway, overruling the objections of the agency.

A few months later, on April 16, 2009,

*President Obama ordered the release of four Justice Department memos that described in detail the techniques used to interrogate KSM and other high-value terrorists*.

This time, not just Hayden (who was now retired) but five CIA directors - including Obama's own director, Leon Panetta objected.  George Tenet called to urge against the memos' release. So did Porter Goss. So did John
Deutch. Hayden says: "You had CIA directors in a continuous unbroken stream to 1995 calling saying, 'Don't do this.'" In addition to objections from the men who led the agency for a collective 14 years, the President also heard objections from the agency's covert field operatives. A few weeks earlier, Panetta had arranged for the eight top officials of the Clandestine Service to meet with the President. It was highly unusual
for these clandestine officers to visit the Oval Office, and they used the opportunity to warn the President that releasing the memos would put agency operatives at risk.

The President reportedly listened respectfully, and then ignored their advice.

*With these actions, Barack Obama arguably did more damage to America's national security in his first 100 days of office than any President in American history.*

But how many people know this?.... only the few that read this email from beginning to end!

Agenda 21 - Just Another One of Those Whacky Conspiracies, Right?

When I first heard about this from friends back in the late '90s and early 2000s I was somewhat skeptical. Such plans are just crazy, whacky conspiracies. Now, with the kind of evidence found right in the midst of city council documents showing how it's now being fully implemented, I no longer doubt it. 

Now that the young Congresswoman A.O.C. has proposed her "New Green Deal" has put the issue front and center on the national news, it makes the notion that such conspiracies are just that; "conspiracies." 

If reading the introduction in this article isn't sufficient for you, then watch the video which accompanies it and you'll see why I no longer doubt what they're up to. I get the scary feeling that, if I did my own digging into my city council's documents for its urban planning I would find the same thing. 

I don't know about you, but I don't want my children living like this.

Imagery Perpetuating Public Bias

With the news breaking recently about Andrew Weissman, top prosecuting attorney under Robert Mueller, I've been provided an education as to how people's biases are both created and perpetuated in today's mass media world.

Before this news broke about Weissman's quitting the special prosecutor's team as its lead lawyer, I was reading the best seller by Sydney Powell - former federal prosecutor under nine U.S. attorneys from both political parties over ten years and three districts - self-published book "License to Lie" which came out in 2014.

The following is off the back of the paperback I'm currently reading:

This true legal thriller debunks everything the media and the government told us about the destruction of the venerable accounting firm Arthur Andersen, Merrill Lynch executives who did one business transaction with Enron, the prosecution of Alaska Senator Ted Stevens, and more. The common thread through it all is a cabal of narcissistic federal prosecutors who broke all the rules and rose to great power. Still in the news today - Robert Mueller's "pitbull" Andrew Weissman and other members of Obama's inner circle - are wreaking havoc on our Republic. This is the book that began exposing "the Deep State."

To those who lived through the media buzz of the Enron, Arthur Andersen, and Merrill Lynch scandal and trials, the impression given about those lawyers prosecuting those involved most likely formed a favorable impression, but more specifically Andrew Weissman, for pursuing justice against those responsible for one of the biggest scandals of the early 2000s.

However, what the media most likely de-emphasized about Weissman is how he sent a man from Merrill Lynch to prison, who later was proven to be totally innocent of the charges Weissman and his team of lawyers had aggressively brought against him in court.

Today's news is a perfect illustration of how reporters perpetuate a bias - by both the report and the reader - created from his earlier reputation as being a pillar of virtue in the legal circles of Washington, D.C., especially when any remarks of opposition to his reputation is ever mentioned. Here's a few lines which does just that from a recent NPR report:

Weissmann has borne the brunt of attacks from critics such as Rush Limbaugh and conservative legal interest groups.

They cited his [Weissman's] attendance at Hillary Clinton's election night party in 2016 and a positive email he wrote to former Acting Attorney General Sally Yates after she refused to defend the Trump administration's first Muslim travel ban.

What makes this article even more obviously biased - thus perpetuating the public's consumption of the narrative about Weissman - is the following remarks:

Former Enron prosecutor Kathryn Ruemmler said there's a reason for the attacks on Weissmann.

"Andrew is attacked because he is feared; those under investigation know just how effective he is," Ruemmler said. "He has not only peerless technical skills, but the fearlessness necessary for pursuing high profile, complex cases and a passionate commitment to seeing justice is done."

In Licensed to Lie, Kathryn Ruemmler is revealed as one of Weissaman's team members in the Enron, Arthur Andersen, and Merrill Lynch cases in which 25,000 employees of Arthur Andersen lost their jobs overnight due the indictment against of Arthur Andersen. As a former assistant attorney under Weissman in the past, it's no surprise that Ruemmler would support Weissman and provide a glowing description while defending and maintaining his public reputation.In fact, she and her other team members deliberately withheld exculpatory evidence which would have proven those they convicted and sent to prison were actually innocent of the charges.

Bolstering my assertion, one need only to read an article of Sara Carter's; an investigative reporter who's researched Weissman's unorthodox methods and procedures in prosecuting his targets.

Weissmann, however, has not been without criticism. This reporter has written numerous stories on Weissmann’s tactics.

For example, in 1997 Weissmann was officially reprimanded by a judge in the Eastern District of New York for withholding evidence. Weissmann was also reported to the Department of Justice Inspector General and Senate Judiciary Committee in 2016 for alleged “corrupt legal practices,” according to documents and the attorney involved in a whistleblower case.

The reader of Carter's article will note that the last two paragraphs refer to Sidney Powell's book I've mentioned above, and what Powell claims about Weissman's prosecutorial misconduct from her personal experience in getting his convictions reversed and Jim Brown of Merrill Lynch freed.

Anyone paying detailed attention to the current prosecution of Paul Manafort, Michael Cohen, and now Roger Stone, will understand the kinds of methods and procedures, such as a "process crimes" - entrapping a person's testimony which results in a technicality and thus resulting in an unintended lie - have been enough to convict them for lying in a federal case to prosecutors. And we all know Cohen and Manafort  have now been sentenced to prison, not for any "Russian Collusion", but whatever they could dig up through entrapment.

So, in understanding how images of individuals can be manipulated through ignorance of the general public's view of them through using favorable information, as well as  omission about unfavorable realities, can generate biases that are perpetuated.

Translating the Nonsense of the Left

The letter posted below is from my Congressman. In reading it you will understand all too clearly just how absurdly liberal in his views about a wide array of topics he is. I've added in a few of my personal comments to some of his more ridiculous points in red font within his text.

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A message from Congressman Adam Smith

Home Issues Legislation Services

After years of silence, the House is taking combating gun violence seriously by passing two common sense gun reform bills in two days. On February 27th we passed H.R. 8, the Bipartisan Background Checks Act, and the following day we passed H.R. 1112, the Enhanced Background Check Act. Passage of H.R. 8 represents the first step in enacting comprehensive gun safety reforms, by requiring a background check for all firearm sales. The evidence is clear: background checks work. Every day, background checks stop over 170 felons and some 50 domestic abusers from obtaining a gun from a federally-licensed dealer. However, in some states, those same prohibited purchasers can bypass these background checks by purchasing a firearm from an unlicensed dealer, or at a gun show. H.R. 8 closes the background check loophole, ensuring that under federal law, states that have not already addressed this dangerous loophole are required to do so. Washington state continues to be a leader in promoting gun safety and responsible regulation. With the passage of this legislation the House of Representatives has joined our state in taking a foundational step toward saving lives from gun violence. Since 1998, the “Charleston Loophole” has allowed more than 60,000 guns into the hands of prohibited purchasers; by allowing a buyer to take ownership of a gun after three business days, whether or not the required background check was completed. With the passage of H.R. 1112, the House is closing this gap in federal law to only allow the purchase of a gun when a background check has been affirmatively passed. This is the type of action needed to stop the trend of gun violence and mass shootings, like the senseless 2015 tragedy at Emanuel African Methodist Episcopal Church in Charleston, South Carolina. Congress has begun to address the epidemic of gun violence plaguing our communities. We must continue to pass long-overdue federal gun legislation to prevent gun violence and keep our communities safe. Translation: We're going to do all we can to ignore the 2nd amendment for law abiding citizens, while at the same time ignoring the reality that it will never stop criminals from obtaining weapons for their use because they already don't respect, obey, or observe our laws. Support for our Public Lands On February 26th, I voted for the passage of a historic public lands package. S. 47, the John D. Dingell, Jr. Conservation, Management, and Recreation Act designates the Mountains to Sound Greenway National Heritage Area in our backyard, permanently reauthorizes the Land and Water Conservation Fund, protects a million acres of public lands from mining, and authorizes The Every Kid Outdoors Act. With the passage of this legislation, the Mountains to Sound Greenway will become the first National Heritage Area designated in the Pacific Northwest. The Greenway plays a vital role in preserving our natural resources and supporting economic development through opportunities for outdoor recreation. I thank Senator Cantwell for her leadership in the Senate, the Mountains to Sound Greenway Trust for their advocacy, and the countless community members that made it possible for us to join together in preserving our wilderness and history for future generations. Translation: While we claim to care about preserving history, we condone our party youth to tear down statues from history they disagree with. Fighting Climate Change Climate change is one of our greatest public policy challenges. I'm proud to support the Green New Deal - a resolution that makes clear not only the depth of the problem of climate change but also the necessity of addressing income inequality as part of the solution. Translation: While we claim it's possible to achieve such a task, what will actually put us all back into a "stone age" civilization is not the type of transportation we'll have, but the cost of accomplishing it will. The devastating effects on our planet from our dependence on fossil fuels has never been more obvious, and never before in our nation’s history has so much wealth been concentrated in the hands of so few people. We must respond to the climate crisis with policies that transform our economy and infrastructure by moving towards clean and renewable sources of energy, while making changes that create greater equality of opportunity and pay people the better wages they deserve for the work they do. Translation: We tell the public wonderful sounding things we'll achieve, but what we aren't telling them is that the vast majority of the nation will be so destitute that the only ones able to survive will be those of us in Washington, D.C. What matters most now is that we enact strong, science-based legislation and policies that can put us on a path to meeting the goals in this resolution.  The urgency of the climate crisis necessitates that we cannot wait. I look forward to continuing to work with the constituents I represent, my colleagues in Congress, and our stakeholders throughout our country as we craft policies to create a strong, green economy that gives everyone a fair chance to earn a decent living, have access to affordable housing, education and health care, and to support their families. Translation: After our policies to promise the moon, and everyone else is experiencing what the Venezuelans are going through right now, we'll just come up with a new great sounding st of reasons why we didn't achieve our goals, but crashed the U.S. economy completely. Questioning the Rationale for Proposed Climate Change Panel  All manner of national security experts, Republican and Democratic alike, recognize the empirical threat that climate change poses to our national security interests. I fought to have that fact enshrined into law in the 2017 National Defense Authorization Act - and President Trump signed it.  In response to recent reports that the National Security Council (NSC) plans to assemble a secret panel to counter the scientific consensus on climate change and question its impacts on the national security of the United States, I have joined other House Committee chairs in questioning the creation of this panel. Read our letter to the President here.  It’s completely inappropriate for the administration to try to form a climate denial panel to try to cast doubt on the risks of climate change, and it could put us in a worse national security position where we’re not prepared for what is to come. The law is clear about this now, and I will keep fighting to ensure that the Department of Defense is able to prepare for the realities of climate change. Translation: We are in control of everything because our cause is just, even if it was 15 or so years ago that Al Gore claimed the oceans were going to rise and Florida was going to be underneath the ocean by now. Removing U.S. Armed Forces from Yemen On February 13th, I voted to support H.J.Res 37, which directs the removal of United States Armed Forces from hostilities in Yemen that have not been authorized by Congress. The civil war in Yemen has led to the world’s worst humanitarian crisis with over half of the population facing severe food insecurity and 24 million Yemenis in need of humanitarian assistance. Passage of this resolution in the House sends a clear message to this Administration that Congress does not support the United States’ de facto support for the Saudi-led coalition in this conflict. Congress must continue to exercise much-needed oversight of this Administration, and any American involvement can and must be debated transparently. The United States should be focused on working towards a peaceful resolution to this conflict and taking measures to alleviate the devastating humanitarian situation. Fighting the National Emergency Declaration On February 15th, the President declared a national emergency in order to take funds supporting military families and military readiness and spend those funds on his wall. This appalling decision by the Trump Administration is an egregious example of the President putting his political agenda ahead of the interest of the United States. It is utterly disrespectful of U.S. national security and the needs of our men and women in uniform, and it further undermines his credibility in requesting the upcoming defense budget. All for a border wall that is the complete wrong approach to border security in the first place. Translation: When our Pres. Obama did things which the majority of the nation disagreed with - like bailing out G.M. to pay back the unions - that was, of course, not appalling or egregious, it was just good policy to use taxpayers money without the consent of the House I work in here in D.C. Heck, we didn't care what he did, because he was "our guy"! On February 26th, the House voted to terminate President Trump’s unlawful national emergency declaration, sending a clear message to the President and this Administration that the new House majority is serious about oversight and accountability. House Democrats are not going to stand by while the President abuses his power by declaring a national emergency to build his wall. I strongly support Congressman Joaquin Castro's resolution to terminate the national emergency. We will continue to fight this unlawful power grab. Translation: Of course, it wasn't an abuse of power by Pres. Obama when he did an end run around Congress to arrange an agreement with Iran on nuclear develop-ment matters and then send them a pallet of CASH big enough to choke Godzilla! Nope, he was OUR GUY!

Barrack Huessain Obama's Legacy

The longer this man's administration existed, the more I got a glimpse of what impact his "world-view" would generate. It is now becoming more confirmed.

As any individual older than this former president will understand, his actions over his two terms revealed that he was a divider; harping on racial and economic disparity as though it was something he could "change" because the lower class of society had no "hope."

Yet, and more significantly, his policies through his various agencies - the I.R.S. and Lois Lerner, the D.O.J. and A.G. Eric Holder, and the E.P.A. with the multitude of onerous regulations which forced many a property owner into the limbo of regulation nightmare - we have, with the election of President Trump who is the opposite, begun to see the left's resistance. 

During the Obama Administration there was an initial mix of both conservative - Arizona - and liberal - San Francisco - attempts to resist, or establish, sanctuaries for immigrants. Of course, it was okay for San Francisco, but not for Arizona.

However, now that this trend has spread to many other cities and states, we are now witnessing a shift of attitudes in resistance to other issues. Now, many county sheriffs in many states are asserting their version of the sanctuary city or state concept to the second amendment.

This quote from a Wall Street Journal article expressed this sentiment in response to many states now passing legislation restricting second amendment rights:

“If a state or city can become a sanctuary for illegal immigration, then we can become a sanctuary for Second Amendment rights,” said Russell Shafer, sheriff of Quay County in eastern New Mexico.

 The social/political "pendulum" has begun swinging towards the other side in reaction to liberals in more locally controlled regions clamping down in response to the recent mass killings our nation has endured.

Only time will tell just how far that "pendulum" will swing.