She-Who surfaces with a new name but same old schtick

...........................

Groupthink
I guess that being a Republican propagandist means never admitting when you're wrong.
in reply to glenn

boltcutters
Glenn is not your problem.
in reply to Groupthink

cedar
You must be so sweet to be married to.
in reply to boltcutters

boltcutters
I'm not your problem.
in reply to cedar

cedar100
Who's problem are you?
in reply to boltcutters

This from "Anonymii" was posted but quickly disappeared:

Anonymii

Cedar, you do know, don't you, that "boltcutters" is S.....K's latest name?

in reply to cedar100

whet_stone
If who is the problem how can he be if who is you.
in reply to cedar100

boltcutters
So much focus on me and my personal relationships tells me that you should probably be spending more time focusing on your own.

Just sayin'.
in reply to cedar100

boltcutters
Curbing free speech should be a tough sell with any American.
in reply to Groupthink

cedar
Your "free speech" is simply an argument for smothering candidates with corporate dollars. The word "obscenity" is more applicable than "free speech."
in reply to boltcutters

boltcutters
I thank God you and those like you don't get to choose which speech deserves freedom.
in reply to cedar

cedar
Your purchased "freedom" denies my freedom.
in reply to boltcutters

boltcutters
What a ridiculous fail.
in reply to cedar

Read more: http://www.theolympian.com/2011/03/31/1598723/in-this-state-you-might-be-better.html#ixzz1IDalB3nq
............................

America won't prosecute bankers for fraud, but ...

Saudi Arabia's Al Gosaibi family launches $9bn legal claim against US exec

by Frank Kane, The National Newspaper, Abu Dhabi, UAE

Last Updated: Mar 30, 2011

Glenn Stewart, former chief executive of The International Banking Corporation (TIBC), is facing a legal claim of at least $9 billion (Dh33bn) in America from the Al Gosaibi family of Saudi Arabia.

Ahmed Hamad Al Gosaibi and Brothers (AHAB), the family's partnership, has filed an action in California that alleges aiding and abetting fraud, breach of fiduciary duty, fraud and fraud conspiracy, and unjust enrichment while he was chief executive of the now bankrupt Bahraini bank.
Mr Stewart, who fled Bahrain last year for his native California, said in an e-mail to The National that he would respond in detail once he had time to study the claims, but denied all the allegations.

The action against Mr Stewart is only the second against an individual executive in the dispute between AHAB and Maan Al Sanea, the head of Saudi conglomerate Saad Group. Claims have also been filed against Mr Al Sanea.

The Bahrain authorities have held a criminal hearing involving 15 executives of either TIBC and another Bahrain bank, Awal, including Mr Stewart and Mr Al Sanea.

When TIBC and Awal collapsed in May 2009 it sparked a corporate battle between AHAB and Saad that has led to allegations of multibillion dollar fraud and legal actions on three continents.
Mr Al Sanea has consistently denied the allegations.

The California action alleges that TIBC "was a sham bank and had no real customers. Mr Stewart knew that it had no real customers, having played a central role in fabricating and documenting a portfolio of dummy borrowers to make it appear TIBC had real banking business, in fraud of regulators, lenders and AHAB.

We are not amused...

MADISON, Wis. — A Wisconsin judge for the second time directed the state to put on hold an explosive law that strips most public workers of nearly all their union bargaining rights, ordering officials on Tuesday to follow her original instructions to stand down.

"Apparently that language was either misunderstood or ignored, but what I said was the further implementation of (the law) was enjoined," said a visibly annoyed Dane County Circuit Judge Maryann Sumi. "That is what I now want to make crystal clear."
Earlier this month, Sumi issued an emergency injunction prohibiting the Wisconsin secretary of state from formally publishing the law — the final step before it could take effect.
Republican legislative leaders responded by directing the law be published by another state agency, and then declared it valid. State officials began implementing the law this weekend, stopping the collection of union dues for state workers and taking more from their pay for health care and retirement.
Sumi said Tuesday that action violated her original order, and she made it clear after a daylong hearing that the law was on hold while she considers a broader challenge to its legality.
The back and forth furthered the often angry debate between new Gov. Scott Walker, his Republican allies in the Legislature and the state's public sector unions.
Walker and the GOP have aggressively pushed forward their effort to remove the bargaining rights of state workers, using a surprise parliamentary maneuver to break a weeks-long stalemate to get it passed and then finding another route to publish the law after Sumi's order blocked the secretary of state from doing so.
State Department of Justice spokesman Steve Means said the agency continues to believe the law was properly published and is in effect. Walker's spokesman, Cullen Werwie, didn't immediately return a message seeking comment.
Wisconsin Department of Administration Secretary Mike Huebsch, Walker's top aide, issued a statement saying the agency will evaluate the judge's order.
"We will continue to confer with our legal counsel and have more information about how to move forward in the near future," Huebsch said.
The law requires most public workers to contribute more to their pensions and health insurance. It also strips away their rights to collectively bargain for anything except wages.

Copyright 2011 The Associated Press.

Why not hit Walker with contempt charges?

Free Music and Political Art

............................................
Free music, Tuesday April 5th, at noon on the Capital steps. Music from Jim Page, a famous folk singer from Seattle, Danny Kelly our local Woody Guthrie, the Citizens Band, hiphop by Thought Crime Collective, more goodness from Collective Love Unlimited and the hip fun covers of the Olympia Free Choir.

Along with the free music is absolutely free political theater. We shall be playing the Backbone's Wheel of Fortune or Misfortune, attending the unwanted marriage ceremony of the corporate fatcats and government bureaucracy and general silliness. Throughout all of this will be free short speeches by real people, not politicians, on how we can take our government back.

In fact all this is part of a week of action, APRIL 2-8. Mark your calendars for these events and make plans to join us as we demand that the bankers and billionaires -- and their politician handmaidens in government -- stop the attacks on working people and that they share in the sacrifice as our nation struggles to recover from the economic havoc their greed and malfeasance has caused.

SATURDAY, APRIL 2 -- 2 p.m. at Peace Arch Park in Blaine -- This International Solidarity Event will bring together unionists, students, activists from Canada, Washington, and Oregon to extend hands across the border in solidarity with all workers. This event will be co-sponsored by the British Columbia Federation of Labour; the Washington State Labor Council, AFL-CIO; and the Oregon AFL-CIO. Please email Lori Province from the WSLC about mobilization efforts.

SUNDAY, APRIL 3 -- 6:30 p.m. at the Paramount Theatre in Seattle -- Join IATSE Local 15 for Solidarity Night at "Billy Elliott: The Musical." Living in a coal mining town in Northern England, young Billy Elliot doesn't take to boxing lessons and is instead drawn to ballet. His father and brother, striking miners, struggle to understand and support his passion for dance. This is a Union production. Actors are members of Actors Equity; stagehands, IATSE Local 15; hair and makeup, IATSE Local 488; and wardrobe, IATSE Local 887; and musicians, AFM 76-493 and other locals. No-host bar begins at 5:30 p.m. and the show starts at 6:30 p.m. Tickets range from $26.30 to $56.90. For tickets or information, contact IATSE Local 15 at 206-441-1515 ext. 225 or stagerep@ia15.org. Tickets at these group rates are limited, so please get in touch now!

MONDAY, APRIL 4 -- 5:30 - 7 p.m. at MLK Memorial Park in Seattle -- The Rev. Martin Luther King, Jr. was assassinated on April 4, 1968, at 6:01 p.m. in Memphis, Tenn., where he was standing with sanitation workers demanding their dream of a better life. Today, the right to bargain collectively for a voice at work and a middle-class life are under attack as never before. Join in this National Call to Action on April 4 and stand with other civil and human rights activists, union members and supporters, Latinos, Asians and immigrants, religious supporters, environmental, student and women's groups against a political agenda that is attacking working families, their human rights and their dignity. This event, sponsored by the Communications Workers of America, will be at 2200 Martin Luther King Jr. Way in Seattle.

TUESDAY, APRIL 5TH – March begins 10 am at the Olympia/Rafah Solidarity Mural at State Avenue and Capital Way. Then on the Capital Steps:
11:45-12: Speaker
12-12:30 Danny Kelly
12:30-1 Speaker
1-1:30 Collective Love Unlimited
1:30-1:45 Wheel of Fortune
1:45-2:30 Jim Page
2:30-3 Marriage Ceremony between Corporations and Government
3-3:45 Citizens Band
3:45-4 Open Mic
4-4:30 Thought Crime COLLECTIVE
4:30-5 Speakers
5-6 Olympia Free Choir
6-7 March around the capital campus!

WEDNESDAY, APRIL 6 -- Noon at the Capitol (exact location TBA) -- Washington Community Action Network will bring hundreds of community activists and students to Olympia in an attempt to find the sacrifices that the Legislature will make the bankers and billionaires pay to get us out of the economic crisis.

THURSDAY, APRIL 7 -- Time/precise location TBA -- Health care unions, led by SEIU District 1199NW, will mobilize health care workers in Olympia to demand that the Legislature fix the deficit problems and to look into the faces of the victims.

FRIDAY, APRIL 8 -- Noon at the Capitol Steps -- This is the big one: a major Labor Rally at the Capitol in Olympia. Washington's working families are tired of being blamed and punished for the damage done by Wall Street banks and corporations. Join thousands of public- and private-sector workers from all trades as we stand together as one and demand that lawmakers PUT PEOPLE FIRST! We want good jobs, we want our rights, and we want them NOW!

http://olycoforfairbudget.wordpress.com/
http://wearewashington.wordpress.com/
............................................

The Magician

A magician was on stage doing his act, when he called for a volunteer from the audience. A man volunteered & went up on stage. The magician told him to pick up the 16 lb. sledgehammer that was on stage next to a cement block & break the block apart with the sledgehammer, so the audience would know the sledgehammer was real.

So, the man swung the sledgehammer with all his might & shattered the cement block. The magician now told the man to hit him square in the face with the sledgehammer. Horrified, the man said, "No way. It'll probably kill you". The magician insisted that the man hit him in the face, saying, "I'll be fine...I promise you...go ahead." "Well,", the man replied, "OK here goes." Again, the man swung the sledgehammer and aimed it at the magicians face. The result was very bloody. The magicians nose was crushed, teeth fell out, blood everywhere. After 6 months in a coma in the hospital, the magician was lying in the hospital bed. One eye opened, the fingers flexed a bit, the other eye opened, and the magician sat straight up and said, "Ta-da!"

Loss of unions, end of American dream?

..........................................................
Budget protests also about fear of losing the American Dream
By Steven Thomma | McClatchy Newspapers. March 24, 2011

The bitter fight over union pay and benefits in states such as Ohio and Wisconsin is more than a clash over an annual budget.

It's a sign of a country wrestling with fundamental change as it leaves the familiar moorings of the 20th century and struggles to forge a new economic and political order.

Working people have been watching their paychecks stagnate or shrink since the 1980s. Health care costs have been rising steadily. Jobs have been migrating overseas. The dream of upward mobility has slipped from many people's grasp. The rules seem to be changing.

[snipped]

But there's more to the angst than the day's headlines.

"What's going on is something deeper within the electorate itself," said John Kenneth White, a professor of politics at Catholic University in Washington. "People feel their rights are being taken away. People feel they're losing the American Dream."

Consider the case of "Joe the Plumber," the Ohioan who said during the 2008 presidential campaign that he feared Democratic candidate Barack Obama's proposed tax increases on incomes beyond $250,000.

Samuel J. Wurzelbacher actually made far less than that — $40,000 in 2006, according to the Toledo Blade newspaper. But he hoped to buy a plumbing business and move up. That, Republicans said, was what the American dream was all about. Anyone could move up and make more, so everyone had a stake in keeping taxes low on the wealthy.

It was that way, once.

For decades after World War II, middle class incomes rose rapidly, and the gap between rich and poor narrowed.

"The United States witnessed a period of strong and sustained economic growth, creating a rising tide that lifted all boats and ushering in an era of unprecedented prosperity," said a report from the Economic Mobility Project at the Pew Charitable Trust.

"In the last generation, however, an increasingly competitive global economy has caused the growth of median family income to slow notably."

By one measure, working Americans continue to do better. Eight out of 10 Americans make more in inflation-adjusted dollars than their parents did, Pew found.

But they're not upwardly mobile like their parents were in the 1950s and 1960s. Pew found that 42 percent of people in the bottom fifth of income now will stay in the bottom fifth, unable to move up the ladder even from one generation to the next.

"If America really is a country where people have equality of opportunity, not outcome, we would expect to see more movement," said Erin Currier, project manager at the Economic Mobility Project. "We would expect that people would not look so predictably like their parents."

At the same time, some are slipping downward, particularly minorities. Pew found that 16 percent of children in middle-income families will fall all the way to the bottom. Among African Americans, 45 percent will fall to the bottom.

"There is not equality of opportunity in the way we as a nation imagine there is," said Currier. "The American dream is struggling."

It has been since the mid-to-late 1970s. One key may have been the decline of unions in the private sector, which previously had helped increase wages not only for members, but for workers in some non-union businesses, by setting a benchmark.

Bruce Western, a sociology professor at Harvard University, said that middle-class incomes started to stagnate around the time that private-sector union membership started to decline. From 1974 to 2007, private-sector union membership dropped from 34 percent to 8 percent for men, and from 16 percent to 6 percent for women, according to Western.

At the same time, income at the bottom and middle of the scale started to stagnate, and the gap between rich and poor grew by 40 percent, he said.

Today, fewer than 7 of 100 jobs in the private sector are unionized. About 36 of every 100 government jobs are unionized, but workers there are under heavy pressure to take pay cuts and pay more for benefits, as their neighbors in the private sector also have done.

[snipped]

Historically optimistic, Americans have turned pessimistic on one keystone measure of the American dream: they generally don't buy the idea that life will be better for the next generation.

On Election Day last November, only 32 percent of voters said they believed life will be better for the next generation of Americans, while 39 percent thought it would be worse and 26 percent thought it would be about the same.

That's not just the recession talking. Election Day polls going back to 1992 found similar results, with the exception of 2000, when optimism spiked momentarily at a rare moment of peace, prosperity and balanced budgets.

If such sentiments feed anger at the Republican governors of Ohio or Wisconsin, or at the Democratic president in Washington, the underlying cause is nonpartisan.

The feeling of betrayal by one's own government appears to run within both public-employee union members angry at efforts to roll back their benefits, and tea party protesters, who rallied first against government bailouts of Wall Street bankers, then at the Democratic health care law.

"There is a connection," said Western at Harvard University. "They're really angered by a violation of what they think is fair. ... In the tea party, it was connected to bailouts ... There was a real sense of unfairness at a time when people were struggling economically. 'Why were those people bailed out?' And that's exactly what was happening in Wisconsin. They see the idea that their bargaining rights would be stripped as unfair."

Beyond unfair, people see the government as turning a deaf ear to them.

Congress passed the health care law a year ago almost entirely with Democratic votes, using a legislative loophole to get past a Republican effort to block the vote.

The Wisconsin legislature voted with only Republican votes to strip teachers and many state employees of their right to bargain collectively, and used a legislative maneuver to get past the fact that they did not have a quorum because Senate Democrats had fled the state rather than vote.

"People believe they were disempowered," said White of Catholic University. "Tea party activists felt they were shut out of power. Now people in Wisconsin feel they were locked out of the process."

What will happen?

Politicians hope their partisan solutions will win favor and eventually grow into a public consensus behind them and their parties.

But so far, each side has misread the country. Obama rode a backlash against George W. Bush into the White House. Republicans rode a backlash against Obama into control of the U.S. House of Representatives.

At least for now, there appears to be no sign that either party has found the politically persuasive answer to the nation's pocketbook anxiety. The country is not rallying to either political party or coalescing into any kind of a solid majority behind either side's approach.

"Change has been the norm for our politics for three elections," said Lee Miringoff, the director of the Marist Institute for Public Opinion at Marist College in Poughkeepsie, N.Y. "There's a lot of ambivalence. On one hand, people want change. On the other hand, the people who push the change are criticized for overreaching."
..........................................................

Some questions about the economy

When America's anti-trust laws were first passed, they were used aggressively to break up railroads and other conglomerates. Later, they were used to break up AT&T. Today, we have businesses that are "too big to fail." In my best Andy Rooney voice I want to ask, "Why is that?"

It seems that some businesses today, most notably financial institutions, are not only too big to fail, but also too big to pay federal taxes. Again, "Why is that?"

Why are we not dusting off the old anti-trust laws? Why are we allowing Wall Street to direct the economy, usually to our detriment?

And while I'm at it:

-- Why do we let speculators virtually double the price of gas at the pump, when there is clearly no oil shortage?

-- Why do we use corn for fuel when so many people around the globe are starving?

-- Why do we permit banks to sit on their assets when we need to have that money pumped into the economy? Especially when we were the ones who bailed them out?

Just askin'.

The Olympian's persona non grata

rlb called me Larry again. I responded by thanking him for the compliment, but noting that I am not, nor have I ever been Larry. I wish I had copied and saved the comments, because within minutes, both were gone. Not even a "Guest" spot that says "comment deleted" (which I would have "liked"). Just completely wiped.

I'm wondering if it's time to start a new local paper.

Well, it's not jaywalking.....but you never know....

  A Graham man accused of posting threatening messages on Gov. Chris Gregoire’s website was charged Wednesday with a felony and ordered jailed in lieu of $500,000 bail.
  A not guilty plea was entered on behalf of Robert Ray Locke, 51, at his arraignment in Pierce County Superior Court.
  Commissioner Patrick Oishi set bail at $500,000 at the request of Prosecuting Attorney Mark Lindquist, who handled Locke’s arraignment.
  Lindquist called the threats “violent and disturbing.”
  Locke posted two messages on the governor’s website Tuesday and then filled out an online “event request” form that contained more threatening language, according to charging papers.
  One message stated, “I hope you have the opportunity to see one of your family members raped and murdered by a sexual predator.” The second stated, “You should be burned at the stake like any heretic.”
The event request form, requested by “Robb Locke” of the organization Gregoire Must Die, asked for “Gregoire’s public execution,” court records show.
  Washington State Patrol detectives used a telephone number and e-mail address provided with the comments to track down Locke about six hours later.
  He allegedly admitted posting the comments and told investigators he is mad at Gregoire because in 1999, when she was attorney general, she failed to help him recover some unpaid wages.
  He also said he was upset because some state benefits he receives are set to be reduced, according to the charging papers.
  Nothing mentioned in the charging documents suggests Locke had taken any action to follow through on the comments.
  Lindquist said outside court that threatening the governor is a bad idea at any time but particularly in light of the assassination attempt earlier this month on U.S. Rep. Gabrielle Giffords, D-Arizona.
  “It’s something we take very seriously,” he said.
  Locke apologized to investigators and said he intended only to give Gregoire “a piece of my mind,” court records show.
  Public defender Lisa Contris asked Oishi to release Locke on his own recognizance. He has no criminal record, Contris said.
  “There’s nothing to indicate he won’t appear at his next court date,” she said.
  Oishi sided with Lindquist. He also ordered Locke to have “absolutely no contact with the governor, her staff or her family” and to stay at least 1,000 feet away from the state Capitol and the governor’s mansion.

Read more: http://www.thenewstribune.com/2011/01/27/1519124/500000-bail-set-for-graham-man.html#ixzz1HZeUEuY7

I recall someone in The Olympian comments, during the War Protests, fantasizing the jail rape of TJ Johnson.

Dumshitt

rlb:  Like most democrats, NPR failed to pay their taxes!!

 

NPR is a non-profit organization.

Goodbye Cruel Olympian

It came to me on a thread concerning the de-funding of NPR, a red herring in itself for such a naked fascist drive will not survive the Senate, that there is no good reason to participate in a theater of hate filled absurdity otherwise known as the Olympian comments section. The half dozen old farts regularly vomiting up their bile are so far gone that there is cogent argument for stripping them of the second Sapient in their species identification. There is nothing I or any reasonable person can do to deliver them from bat shit crazy Funhouse of Hell of their own creation in which they they live and breath. I'd tell then to fuck off but they did that to themselves years ago.


I have to say it feels like I've taken a load off my back and am breathing clean air after a long and pointless slog through a cesspool.


Anything I care to say about community events will take place on one of the several dozen good local media that do not violate their own guidelines to cater to the bleating sheeple of the American Fascist Movement.

Hate Blog???

At least, that's what "Radec" is calling us these days. It of the blog that is named after an imaginary third-world country.

And an amusing side-note about the moderation at the Olympian -- have you noticed that you can still "like" a comment after it has been deleted? I do that all the time, no matter who posted, just so Tammy will wonder.

Abused child missing

FAIR USE NOTICE: This site may contain copyrighted material the use of which has not been pre-authorized by the copyright owner. Such material is made available to advance understanding of political, economic, scientific, social, art, media, and cultural issues. The 'fair use' of any such copyrighted material that may exist on this site is provided for under U.S. Copyright Law. In accordance with U.S. Code Title 17, Section 107, material on this site is distributed without profit to persons interested in such information.

Hate comment, hate comment, hate comment!!!!!!!

rlb

Larry, your mom is calling you back to bed!!

• Like
• Reply

• Just now
• in reply to spinnakr

Someone hates me so much they think I'm Spinnakr

Jay Leno on Sarah Palin:

"Julianne Moore has been selected for the role of Sarah Palin in an upcoming movie. As a method actress, Julianne will prepare for the part by getting a lobotomy."

I wish I could improve on that line, but perfection must stand alone.

InDepends Voltaire redundantly quoteth......

"I hope the violence doesn't escalate to the point that

a law abiding citizen is forced to defend them self with deadly force."

Nice look, Joey.

"Them self"?????  You mean like play with "them self"?

This is your rifle, this is your gun.  This is for shooting, this is for pleasuring yourself in a diaper.

I'm surprised he isn't worrying about the violence ejaculating, as opposed to escalating.

Regardless, I don't think Joey can get a shot off.

Book Notes: After Shock

Robert Reich's latest book, After Shock: The Next Economy and America's Future is a chilling assessment of America's economy today, and a succinct and accurate account of how we got to where we are. In essence, America's middle class is the victim of a broken contract:

"The fundamental problem is that Americans no longer have the purchasing power to buy what the U.S. economy is capable of producing. The reason is that a larger and larger portion of total income is going to the top. What's broken is the basic bargain linking pay to production. The solution is to remake the bargain.

"President Obama brought the economy back from the brink. His bank rescue and stimulus packages, combined with the Fed's low interest rates, prevented the Great Recession from turning into another Great Depression. But the nation has not recommitted itself to the basic bargain. The 2010 health reform legislation was a step in the right direction but small in relation to the overall challenge. Consequently, most Americans will continue to experience relatively high unemployment and flat or declining real wages. Economic growth will be hampered.

"Growth, it should be noted, is not an end in itself. It is a means to better lives for all, generating not only higher incomes but also making room for the consumption of public improvements that benefit all -- an atmosphere less polluted by carbon, good schools, better health care. Rapid growth also smooths the way toward the basic bargain: When the economy is growing nicely, the wealthy more easily accept a smaller share of its gains because they can still come out ahead of where they were before. Simultaneously, when everyone else enjoys a larger share, they more willingly pay taxes to support public improvements. It is a virtuous cycle. (emphasis mine)

"Slow or no growth has the reverse effect. Economic gains are so meager that the wealthy fight harder to maintain their share. The middle class, already burdened by high unemployment and flat or dropping wages, fights ever more furiously against any additional burdens, such as tax increases to support public schools or price increases resulting from regulations limiting carbon emissions. It is a vicious cycle."

Does this seem familiar? Consider this: after the Crash of 2008, the total wealth of America's four hundred wealthiest people remained at $1.27 trillion. This represents more than the estimated cost of achieving universal health care for the entire nation for the next decade.

Or this: In 2009, America's top 25 hedge fund managers raked in an average of $1 billion each!

Professor Reich goes on to describe alternative scenarios, including the possibility of restoring the "basic bargain." The question is, will we have the courage to remake the bargain?

Isn't that convenient-- it's all Disqus' fault!

........................................

infowarsdotcom

OH I see my reply to this Whining and Complaining was deleted...but why? All I said was...seems like every time subjects such as this come up..whites seem to run and hide and say blacks are whining and complaining...but its still fact. Racism is alive and well...in the court system, at work, in schools, and even this forum.
I didn't cuss...or say anything inappropriate but yet it was deleted. hmmm.

• in reply to Intertubes

Tammy McGee, Moderator for TheOlympian.com
I'm not sure why your comment was flagged, but it was flagged by the Disqus filter, and not by me. I approved the comment and released it from the 'holding' page, but for some reason it isn't showing as having been approved. I see that you have repeated the comment and it has not been flagged. I'll keep my eye on this issue, and if it happens again, I'll notify Disqus.
• in reply to infowarsdotcom

Read more: http://www.theolympian.com/2011/03/22/1588254/some-people-wont-allow-facts-to.html#ixzz1HNoncXKq
........................................

Comment about how lopsided the Zero's comment sections are

....................................................
One of the rare, fair comments on the Zero's stories:

Groupthink

It's interesting to me how lopsided The Olympian comment sections tend to be. Almost every hour of the day you'll find most of the threads dominated by the usual crew of right-wing commentators. These aren't folks who enjoy a good graduate-level seminar, but rather tend toward the "hot talk" of Rush Limbaugh -- the main point is to attack and disparage.

You can see that here with the charge that unions "terrorize." That's such an over-the-top mischaracterization that it doesn't even deserve a response.

So where are The Olympian's mainstream readers? They usually don't bother to participate here. I don't blame them. This isn't really a community-wide forum for dialogue -- it's a dumping ground for right-wing talking points.

• 10 Likes

Read more: http://www.theolympian.com/2011/03/22/1588253/stand-up-to-gops-union-bashing.html#disqus_thread#ixzz1HNSaNMPF
....................................................

Asshole Update

radec is feigning humor for embarrassment:

"LMAO I haven't laughed that hard in a loooong time! Not at this article, at something pertaining to it on another site!"

As we all know, radec monitors every movement on ThurstonBlog.  She went into the Olympian story and edited her comment with the above quote.

Sometimes even an asshole can feel like an asshole.

The funny part is that she was WRONG and then went to the time and trouble of clicking the "funny" rating 10 times on the blog.

Again, to my knowledge....and I have a relationship with the Boys and Girls Club CEO.....no one on their staff has commented on an internet site more than once or twice.

It's sad to be stupid AND sick.

RIP: Pinetop Perkins, Ralph Mooney

..................................
Legendary multi-Grammy-winning blues pianist Pinetop Perkins died at his home in Austin, TX.  Perkins, who was part of Muddy Waters' band for years, was 97.  Less than two months ago, Perkins, along with his musical partner Willie "Big Eyes" Smith, won a Grammy for best traditional blues album, Joined At the Hip.  Born in Belzoni, Miss., on July 7, 1913, Perkins was one of the oldest of the original Delta bluesmen still living.
..................................
Steel guitarist Ralph Mooney, Waylon Jennings' right-hand man, passed away yesterday in Arlington, TX.  Mooney, 82, was one of the great stylists of his instrument and is credited by some critics with inventing the Bakersfield sound.
..................................

By the way.....

Yes..... I was the person that contacted the Secretary of State's office when Sondrak.com was soliciting "charity funds" under the guise of "helping the troops".  After the SoS investigated, it was determined that the amount of money wasn't enough to constitute fraudulent solicitation.  The event, as I recall, was some ball for military police officers.  Real important stuff.

This is why you have government oversight.  A real charity is required to hold a 501c3 with the State.  Now you can probably understand why SondraK.com is so big on cutting the size of government.

As long as people are going to sling shit, I might as well toss in a little truth for good measure.

Pretty sad excuse for an online newspaper

First the good part - an excellent support editorial on the new capital campaign for another Boys and Girls Club - Read more: http://www.theolympian.com/2011/03/21/1587049/boys-girls-clubs-serve-our-communitys.html#ixzz1HIIbjUD1

Now the sad part.  Due to shitty moderation by The Olympian staff, two of the three comments were intended to insult members of the community who have given much.  Read along:

radec I agree, good organization. Especially since they have eliminated some employees who spent more time commenting on websites than working!

rlb

I am glad the Boys and Girls club is here in Thurston County.

We need some positive places for kids to go and have fun!!

MyOpinion98502

Take THAT Big Brothers Big Sisters of Southwest Washington! Maybe if your organization had a decent CEO and management, as well as a board, who cared about the staff & program, BBBSSWWA could only HOPE to be half as successful.

Kudos to The Boys & Girls Club & to the way it's run & to those who run it & support it! Well done! I hope your Garfield site is successful & hopefully there will be many more future sites after that as well!

"Radec", also known as SondraK and many other names was attempting to insult me.  Only one problem.  I didn't work for the Boys and Girls Club. 

For those that don't know, I was the Director of Agency Development for Big Brothers Big Sisters of Southwest Washington until I left the agency in October of 2009.  Due to government FUNDING CUTS, the Mentoring Children in Foster Care Program, was due to be terminated, as the dedicated funding was no longer available from a partnership with DSHS.  It was part of the first round of Governor's cuts for the 2009 Budget.

I had been pursuing other interests so...... as good managers do, I offered up my job to save the program (two 3/4 time caseworkers).  I was the number two person at the agency and aside from the CEO was the highest paid.  The CEO, Board of Directors and I all agreed to a plan where I would be the reduction in staff that made the program stay alive.  The agency - CEO and Board - offered a generous severance package that, quite frankly, I didn't expect.  Today, I happily spoke to a member of the Board of Directors - a close friend.  I'm in constant contact with the CEO, another friend.  The agency continues to provide mentors for children who need them.  Said services are provided free of charge to the Boys and Girls Clubs via a "site based" mentoring program that has been in service for probably 10 years.  BBBS and the Boys and Girls Clubs are not in competition, they are partners in serving children.

Radec is a sick person and is, as you can see, oblivious to reality.  It was well documented that I worked for BBBS and not Boys and Girls Clubs, but when you are as sick as Radec, all sense of reality is lost.  Radec/Sondra/Whoever has been obsessed with my employment, not comprehending that some people work flexible hours because they are not held to a time clock.  My position required many evening and weekend hours, thus, Radec couldn't keep track of me.  She still can't.

Did The Olympian have the professionalism to moderate and delete that comment?  SADLY, NO.

The comment by "My Opinion" is that of a disgruntled employee that was terminated for behavior issues about 6 months after I left the agency. Sadly, I was responsible for hiring this person, who had the skills to do the job, but didn't have the discipline to do the job.  This person would not follow directions provided by management, and after several warnings, was fired with cause.  To demonstrate how small and mindless this individual is, upon being fired, the terminated employee removed the hard drive from an agency computer, that "they" had donate a year before.  Petty, no?

Again, crappy moderation allows a person to attack an agency that has provided services for 1,000s of children for over 25 years in Thurston County.  "My Opinion" isn't qualified to judge a dog fight, much less the skills of a CEO of a successful charity and the Board volunteers who support him for no pay and not much glory either.

ThurstonBlog got its humble beginnings because of a lack of professionalism by The Olympian.  This is just one more case where ThurstonBlog has to deliver the truth, because The Olympian can't.

Thanks to rlb for a reasonable comment.  Good luck to both agencies as they continue their partnership in serving children who need care.

Hopefully, Radec and MyOpinion can get professional therapeutic help for their obvious mental instabilities.