The Stranger, Seattle's Only Newspaper: Slog

Kucinich Won't Run for Congress in Washington

Eli Sanders — Wed, 16 May 2012 12:57:07 -0700

In an e-mail announcement, the departing Congressman from Ohio—who's been engaging in a long-running flirtation with the idea of a Congressional run in this state—says he's concluded that he "can best serve from outside the Congress."

Full statement in the jump:

I would like to thank you for your support, and thank the tens of thousands of concerned Citizens for Kucinich who in the past few months have written, emailed and called to discuss my running for Congress in Washington State.

At the end of this term I will have served sixteen years in the House of Representatives, leading the way for peace, to bring an end to the wars, for workers' rights, for health care for all, for monetary policy reform and to end the corrupting influence which money has on our political decision-making process. My staff and I have worked to deliver a level of constituent service to the people of Cleveland, which most agree is unmatched for results. As testimony to our efforts in the Cleveland area I received about 75% of the vote from my present constituents who were included in the newly redistricted area in which I ran in March.

Because of my love of public service, I have given a great deal of time and much thought to the advice and encouragement I have received from so many people of good will in Washington State. I certainly want to continue to be of service to our country and to the working men and women who have built it.

After careful consideration and discussions with Elizabeth and my closest friends, I have decided that, at this time, I can best serve from outside the Congress. My commitments to peace, to workers' rights and to social and economic justice are constant and are not dependent upon holding an office. They are dependent upon my continuing to stand up, to speak out, to organize, to motivate and to inspire our nation as to its deeper potential. This I promise I will do with great energy and heart.

I will complete my service in the U.S. House on January 2, 2013, with the same passion and devotion to duty with which I began it on January 3, 1997. And when I do, I shall think of you and all those who have given me encouragement to continue to be of service, and I will smile, knowing that we shall meet again in our celebration of the potential of citizen activists to change the world.

Please continue to encourage your friends and family to sign up at www.Kucinich.us because we will need to continue to work together for change outside Congress, as we have worked for it from within. This is just the beginning!

Sincerely,

Dennis

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SIFF Notes 2012!

David Schmader — Wed, 16 May 2012 12:53:04 -0700

You know how some years of the Seattle International Film Festival are better than others? In all seriousness, holy crap! This is the best SIFF since The Stranger can remember, and the entire staff watched previews until our eyes bled to find that out. You're going to find a ton to love.

SIFF 2012 kicks off tonight with Lynn Shelton's Your Sister's Sister, the first film by a Seattleite (and Stranger Genius) ever to be featured at the giant gala. For closing night, it's Stephen Gyllenhaal's Grassroots, the tale of Grant Cogswell's 2001 run for Seattle City Council. In between, SIFF ransacks the globe for delights, from Spain (the Aptovian black comedy Cousinhood) to Austria (the gritty coming-of-age tale Breathing) to South Africa (the surfing-meets-Shakespeare-under-apartheid crowd-pleaser Otelo Burning) to Iran (the heart-crushing drama about life under Sharia law Goodbye).

Despite SIFF's ace curating of world cinema, the film inspiring the most passion among the Stranger SIFF Squad is another Northwest product: Megan Griffiths's Eden, which tackles the soul-sickening subject of child sex trafficking with an artistry and humanity that is profound. Eden is harrowing and riveting and might be a masterpiece; if you miss it at SIFF, you're an idiot.

Among the splashy special events: The Story of Film: An Odyssey, a cinema historian's 15-hour tribute to the glory of film from the silents through today, and "An Evening with Sissy Spacek," featuring Terrence Malick's 1973 glory Badlands (Spacek's first performance in a leading role), followed by an onstage Q&A with Spacek herself.

Here is a guide to every single film screening in SIFF 2012, featuring eyewitness reviews of more than 150 films and a baker's dozen jokes in poor taste. Dig in.

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The Council Wants Your Advice—But Are They Finally Ready to Listen?

Dominic Holden — Wed, 16 May 2012 12:37:33 -0700

The Seattle City Council's chief spokeswoman, Laura Lockard, just issued a statement asking writers like myself to let folks like yourself know that the council wants applicants for the Seattle Human Rights Commission. Five seats are open. Lockard explains what you'd do: "The Commission advises the Mayor and City Council on human rights and social justice issues."

The problem is this: Most council members have ignored the commission when it counted. Sure, sure, they don't have to listen to the commission if they don't want. And, well, they don't.

We have a recent example of a time when the commission's analysis was pertinent to pending legislation, in 2010, when the council was considering a controversial bill to penalize aggressive panhandlers (who already face criminal penalties) with further fines. In a unanimous vote against the measure and following up with a blistering 15-page report, the commission warned that the bill created due process concerns, was prone to selective enforcement, and ultimately "does not comply with human rights standards." At the final council hearing, bill sponsor Tim Burgess didn't provide copies of the report (instead he splayed out lots of papers showering support for his own legislation) and neither did Lockard. In fact, Lockard sneered when I asked her about the commission's report at that hearing, telling me that the commission only "gets as much weight as public comment."

In the end, most council members voted against the commission's advice. That is, Sally Bagshaw, Tim Burgess, Sally Clark, Richard Conlin, and Jean Godden told the unanimous commission to shove a cork in it.

Now they're asking you to join it. Sigh.

But I think you should apply anyway. In fact, I may even apply. The Seattle Human Rights Commission is stacked with brilliant, sane, forward-thinking people. Attorneys Chris Stearns and Roslyn Solomon to name two. They do great work, such as recently issuing a report on recommendations for police accountability.

And if you're sharp at fuck (unlike me), you should apply. Send an email here by May 31 with your resume and cover letter. Because the commission does make a difference. In the end, McGinn vetoed the council's odious panhandling bill—largely thanks to the commission's footwork. And this time around, if the council has an ounce of wit, it will take the commission's advice more seriously and jettison liabilities like Lockard.

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Lunchtime Quickie: It's Noon. Have You Vacuumed The Cat Yet?

Kelly O — Wed, 16 May 2012 11:58:35 -0700

Seriously.

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Mayor and Exec. Reach Arena Deal, But the City Council Sounds Skeptical

Dominic Holden — Wed, 16 May 2012 11:23:55 -0700

Goldy will have more on this soon. But here's the news for now: This morning, Mayor Mike McGinn and King County Executive Dow Constantine announced that they have reached an agreement with financier Chris Hansen for a roughly $500 million sports arena in SoDo. It would be home to a new baskethooping team that would stay in Seattle for at least 30 years, if we can find one, and possibly a puck-in-goaling team.

"The total amount to be paid to ArenaCo by the City and County for acquisition of the Project Site and the lease-purchase of the Arena Facility will be $200 million," says a memorandum of understanding posted on the city's website. That $200 million, the cap on the public's end of the deal, would be covered by bonds funded by arena proceeds and taxes.

But Seattle City Council member Tim Burgess, chair of the council’s finance committee, sounds less than enthusiastic in a statement he just sent to reporters. "We will determine if municipal bonds for this project are an appropriate and wise commitment from the City," Burgess wrote. His full statement appears after the jump.

Here's Burgess has to say:

The Council will thoroughly review the Mayor’s proposal for a new sports arena. We will determine if municipal bonds for this project are an appropriate and wise commitment from the City. We will also explore any risks to the City’s financial stability and whether this investment provides sufficient public benefit. To the extent appropriate, we will do this work in coordination with the County Council’s concurrent review.

As the proposal was negotiated, my colleagues and I developed a list of issues we expect the Government Performance and Finance Committee will focus on during deliberations, including financial protections for the City, the impact of the new arena on our important maritime and industrial sector and the relationship between the City and the County. We shared this list with the Mayor’s staff in early April and through this committee we’ll examine whether the proposed agreement addresses these and other questions.

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Last Night's Savage U

Christopher Frizzelle — Wed, 16 May 2012 11:17:21 -0700

Savage U - Full Episodes

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Another Third Party Dies an Ignoble Death

Paul Constant — Wed, 16 May 2012 11:09:53 -0700

The Fix says:

Americans Elect, the group that has spent the last two years securing ballot access for a yet-to-be-named middle ground presidential candidate, wound up running into a significant problem: Finding a candidate.

The group announced late Monday that no candidate has attained the level of support he or she would need to even be considered at the group’s online convention next month, and the deadline for candidates to qualify has passed. That leaves the group with ballot access in more than half the states — including many swing states — but no candidate to actually put on the ballot.

The group says it will meet Thursday to decide whether to press on.

The top two losers at the moment are former Louisiana Governor Buddy Roemer, and Rocky Anderson, who as near as I can tell has one very angry fan who loves getting into fights on the internet. I think if a Republican were to break with his party, say fiscal sanity is important but social issues are not, and run with a third party on the ballot in every state, that Republican would do very well for himself in November. I'm not saying Americans Elect would win the White House, but they could at least inspire the schizophrenic break that the Republican party sorely needs at this point. Romney's biggest problem is that he has to try to shape all the various past leaders of the Republican Party—teabaggers, evangelicals, neocons—into one coalition, when the party needs someone to cut ties with all those groups and offer something different for the future. A third party would be the quickest, most efficient way to do that, but it's not going to happen this year.

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Romney Reaches Out to Hispanic Voters

Dan Savage — Wed, 16 May 2012 10:13:51 -0700

Um... thought it was for real when I saw the still image. Via Sullivan.

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A Critical Overview of The Stranger

Kent Merriwether, Independent Filmmaker — Wed, 16 May 2012 09:00:44 -0700

We're observing Slog silence from now until 11 a.m. while we have an editorial meeting, but look—we made an entire paper's worth of stuff for you! Here's what Kent Merriwether, Independent Filmmaker, has to say.

Last summer, I finished principal photography on my debut feature film, The Killist, about a Starbucks barista and trivia host named Vegas who's also a secret hit man. Vegas's pop-culture-savvy wit and prowess as an assassin are as sharp (and deadly) as the cut of his suit. To say that I was proud of The Killist would be an understatement: For less than $30,000, I produced, scripted, directed, lit, and created the SFX for a motion picture that, in my humble opinion, could stand up to any Hollywood product. People I showed the movie to compared it to Tarantino, Spielberg, and Scorsese. I completely agree. And it is no exaggeration to say that my childhood friend Eddie Blunt, making his big-screen debut as Vegas, is the next Matthew McConaughey. He falls in love with his target—a stripper played by my girlfriend, Deena Thompson. In the tour-de-force third act, Vegas has to decide between being a good company man or telling the whole system to go fuck itself.

Since the Seattle International Film Festival brags about being the biggest film festival in the country, I had high hopes when I submitted the film to SIFF for consideration last November. But then we got a rejection slip from SIFF in the mail, and it's like, what the fuck? I sent an e-mail to The Stranger about how they should do a feature on SIFF's bullshit standards, and they wrote back that they were "actually excited" about SIFF this year because there are "more quality films than usual." That's such complete horseshit I don't even know where to start. When I asked them to review The Killist, they never responded.

After I sent a few more e-mails about it, someone finally wrote back and said I could submit my critique of SIFF "to run in the Public Editor column." I don't read The Stranger every week, so I don't even know what that is (sorry!), but I would just like to point out that SIFF is fucking bullshit if talented filmmakers being compared to Tarantino, Spielberg, and Scorsese aren't being given a fair shot. According to the internet, the opening movie at SIFF is by Lynn Shelton, who must have sucked a lot of dicks at The Stranger because they gave her a Genius Award and they write an article about her every three months, even though no one I know even likes her movies. Also, women are not exactly known for being good directors—get pissed if you want, but it's true.

I tried to read about the other films that made the cut, but it's just a bunch of standard film festival crap about atomic energy is bad and rape in the military is bad. LOL. This mealy-mouthed social consciousness is just overkill. I hate that The Stranger is cheering on this mediocre "We Are the World" crap. If you want to see the real future of film, including my girlfriend, who I swear to god is the next Megan Fox, The Killist will be screening this Friday and Saturday night at the Papa Murphy's in Mountlake Terrace. The manager there actually cares about American cinema.

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Hey Journalism, I Thought You Were Supposed to Be Better Than This?

Goldy — Wed, 16 May 2012 08:44:53 -0700

I can't match Dan for eloquence, but I also can't resist adding my own two cents on PenisGate, mostly to express surprise that allegedly credible news organizations like SeattlePI.com, KING-5 News, and even the Seattle Times chose to give this non-story legs.

I'm constantly being told how you real journalists are all so much better than dirty bloggers like me. Apparently not.

Don't get me wrong, I love me some muckraking, and I'm not above dishing the dirt of a politician's private life when it is relevant. But absent evidence of malfeasance or hypocrisy (of which there is none) I fail to see how a relationship between an unmarried politician and another consenting adult is any of my business, let alone scandalous.

I know, I know, "Who's being the hypocrite now, Goldy?" you might say, and if a similar story had arisen about a Republican politician, yeah, I probably would have covered it. But A) I'm a partisan liberal Democratic hack, not a neutral, objective, fair-and-balanced reporter, remember? And B) a Republican politician engaging in extramarital sexual relations is almost by default a hypocrite (and thus fair game) due to his party's relentless and oppressive Christianist campaign to impose their so-called "family values" on the rest of us. I don't see many Democrats dressing up anti-gay bigotry "in defense of marriage," so they deserve a little more leeway in terms of how they conduct their own private lives.

And as long as we're talking about hypocrisy, let's talk a little more about the constantly moving standards at the Seattle Times. When I revealed the reason why 2005 Republican King County executive nominee David Irons Jr.'s own mother wouldn't vote for him—she said he hit her—the Seattle Times was just about the only media outlet to refuse to cover the scandal, despite the fact that Irons' parents had pleaded with Joni Balter to tell their story before I ever caught whiff of it. And when the Seattle Times came into possession of 62 pages of documents detailing sexual harassment charges against then Commissioner of Public Lands Doug Sutherland, they sat on it. For months. In the middle of the 2008 election season. It wasn't until the documents finally came my way and I broke the story that the Seattle Times and a number of other newspapers who also passed at the story finally front-paged the scandal for fear of being scooped by their print competitors.

With each of those stories and throughout my blogging career I heard from reporters and columnists who have questioned my journalistic ethics and standards, but, you know, you can't have it both ways. You can't roll your eyes at our "fuck"-filled reporting while at the same time stooping to levels of scandal-mongering beneath the standards of The Stranger's newsroom.

Or if you can, could you at least be consistent about it so that we know what we're up against? Thanks.

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Professional Acting Advice for Mitt Romney

David Schmader — Wed, 16 May 2012 08:36:07 -0700

From Inside the Actors Studio's James Lipton, via NY Mag.

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So Those Christians Who Yelled At Me...

Dan Savage — Wed, 16 May 2012 08:34:43 -0700

...for citing a verse from the Old Testament to demonstrate how Christians read the Bible selectively—they toss around the anti-gay bits, they completely ignore the kill-your-non-virgin-daughters bits (to say nothing of the slavery bits)—are going to jump down this professional boxer's throat, right?

Manny Pacquiao, who lives and trains in Los Angeles, is probably in deep shit in this liberal city of brotherly love. That's because the boxing champion said that gay men "must be put to death." Really. In a recent interview with the National Conservative Examiner the fighter quoted the Bible in relaying his feelings about President Obama's support for same-sex marriage: "If a man lies with a man as one lies with a woman, both of them have done what is detestable. They must be put to death; their blood will be on their own heads." Um. Okay. He was quoting Leviticus 20:13.

Um. Okay. Leviticus 20:13 is from the Old Testament. Which, according to the screamers I heard from, isn't "germaine" to Christians. I expect that Pacquiao will start to hear from scores of outraged Christians in three, two, one... never. Via JMG.

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Wednesday Morning News

Jen Graves — Wed, 16 May 2012 08:32:00 -0700

Another Murder in Seattle (Shoreline): A 17-year-old girl was shot and died. KING 5 reports, "Police believe the unknown suspects opened fire in an apartment complex parking lot on the 300 block of Richmond Beach Road around 12:30 a.m." An 18-year-old man still in critical at Harborview.

War Crimes Trial of Bosnian Military Leader: Has begun at the Hague. In the courtroom, Al Jazeera English reports, "Mladic made eye contact with one of the Muslim women in the audience, running a hand across his throat, in a gesture that led Presiding judge Alphons Orie to hold a brief recess and order an end to 'inappropriate interactions.'"

Run on the Banks in Greece: Greek president tells the BBC it is "great fear that could develop into a panic."

Oil Leak in Whidbey Island's Penn Cove: Rickety old boat leaks oil for a mile and a half, catches fire, and sinks.

The New First Partner of France: A journalist, not married to Hollande, just partnered. "“I haven’t been raised to serve a husband,” she said. “I built my entire life on the idea of independence.” And when her own magazine ran her picture on its cover, she congratulated it for its sexism on Twitter. Introducing Valérie Trierweiler, the opposite of a trophy wife.

Some States Are Using Money Meant for Housing to Close Budget Gaps: The money is from a banks settlement, and meant to help homeowners. (I clicked through to the study; Washington is not an offender.)

45 Layoffs Last Week: Of Seattle school teachers and employees. (Oh yeah, it was Teacher Appreciation Week, too.)

Crackdown: On anti-Putin protests in Russia.

9-Year-Old Boy Holds Up His Own Sign at Westboro Baptist Hate Fest: "God Hates Nobody."

Jerry Sandusky: He's asking the judge to, you know, just let him go.

Kony Watch: Ugandan army and US Special Forces may or may not be close to finding Joseph Kony.

Cuts to Federal Child Care Aid: Derailing women's careers. But not in this great country! Or...

Silverton, Colorado, Population 638, Is Saving its Newspaper!: Today reports, "How's the paper doing now? 'We made $236 last year in profit,' Esper said. I laughed. 'Hey,' he cried, 'don't sneeze at that. It's more money than a lot of big papers make!'"

You Have More Sperm Than You Think: That scary the-sperms-are-falling! the-sperms-are-falling! study from 20 years ago was not so simple.

It's not only sperms that are falling! "My thought is that when God drops a puppy from the sky, you keep it." Okay, but did anybody actually see the hawk drop the puppy from the sky? IMPORTANT NEWS, people.

Visit msnbc.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy

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What Do Governor Chris Gregoire and NY Times Columnist Thomas Friedman Have in Common?

Cienna Madrid — Wed, 16 May 2012 08:31:59 -0700

They both eat lunch, apparently. A keen-eyed slog tipper spotted Gregoire slurping lemonade with Friedman downtown yesterday at the Purple Cafe and Wine Bar. It looked a little something like this:

The Stranger
"I went to high school with the Coen brothers, you know."
"Oh really? I adored their movie about bowling."

I really wanted to know what they discussed, but sadly our slog tipper refused to don a mustache and pose as a waiter for eavesdropping purposes, or sidle up to a neighboring table while pretending to read a copy of the NY Times. Which means all we can do is speculate wildly. Help me out, Sloggers!

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Pants on Prairie Fire

Paul Constant — Wed, 16 May 2012 08:02:54 -0700

You know your big speech on President Obama's "prairie fire" of a national debt is a bust if even the Associated Press feels the need to do a step-by-step fisking of all the lies in it:

ROMNEY: "America counted on President Obama to rescue the economy, tame the deficit and help create jobs. Instead, he bailed out the public sector, gave billions of your dollars to the companies of his friends, and added almost as much debt as all the prior presidents combined."

THE FACTS. Hardly. Presidents from George Washington through George W. Bush ran the national debt up to $10.62 trillion, the amount it was on the day Obama took office. Today, it is $15.67 trillion, according to the Treasury Department's Bureau of Public Debt. So it has gone up by $5.05 trillion under Obama. That's roughly half of the amount amassed by all the other presidents combined.

In short, the debt has gone up by about half under Obama. Under Ronald Reagan, it tripled.

There's much more. Every politician stretches the truth a little, but Mitt Romney out-and-out lies repeatedly. And there's no way to call him on those lies directly, because he doesn't make himself available to reporters. This morning, Romney campaign staffers were physically preventing reporters from taking places at the rope line at an event so they could ask questions of him. Is this the Romney campaign strategy? Lie as much as possible and keep the hell away from reporters so you don't get called on it?

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The Universal Subway

Charles Mudede — Wed, 16 May 2012 07:49:36 -0700

BBC:

A study of the world's largest subway networks has revealed that they are remarkably mathematically similar.

The layouts seem to converge over time to a similar structure regardless of where or over how long they were built.

The study, in the Journal of the Royal Society Interface, analysed 14 subway networks around the world.

It found common distributions of stations within the networks, as well as common proportions of the numbers of lines, stations, and total distances.

Later in the story:

"Although these (networks) might appear to be planned in some centralised manner, it is our contention here that subway systems like many other features of city systems evolve and self-organise themselves as the product of a stream of rational but usually uncoordinated decisions taking place through time," they wrote.

I love how this seems to point to a kind of global logic or mind. The subway system begins with the particular (a given city)

...and slowly evolves into the universal (the truly global city, the terminal point of humanity).

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The Beacon Food Forest!

Bethany Jean Clement — Wed, 16 May 2012 07:35:38 -0700

beaconfoodforest.weebly.com

Have you heard about the Beacon Food Forest? It sounds really, really cool. The possible problem, per the Atlantic:

Of course, any "free" food source begs the question of what to do with overzealous pickers. No definitive answer on how to handle that predicament has been established yet, though. According to Herlihy, the only solutions right now are to produce an abundance of fruit so there's enough for everyone and to embed "thieves' gardens" with extra plants in the park for those people eager to take more than their share.

...but all the city's P-Patches (of which the planned Food Forest is a part) seem to do all right contending with that potential issue... and a program in a small town in England has had to urge people to come and take the produce.

“What we found was that in the first 18 months or two years nobody picked anything,” says Pam Warhurst, originator of the Incredible Edible Todmorden project. “We had to keep saying to them, go on, it’s fine, you can help yourself. Eventually people got the knack of it."

Seattle is just as polite as an English village. (And as unaccustomed to picking fruit and vegetables for free—I wonder how much of the hesitation is "but it might be DIRTY!"-related.)

Also, if you need it that bad, take it. That's kind of the point, isn't it?

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Charges Against One May Day Protester Dropped After Incident Video Surfaces

Eli Sanders — Wed, 16 May 2012 06:00:00 -0700

From the King County Prosecutor's office:

Joshua Garland, 28, was charged with one count of Assault Third Degree for allegedly grabbing a police officer's hand and twisting and pulling his arm. After reviewing video provided by Garland's defense attorney showing the alleged incident, prosecutors no longer believe they could prove the case beyond a reasonable doubt.

Andy Roberston, the attorney for Joshua Garland, tells me that the charge-dropping video comes from YouTube user seanbann, and shows Garland, at about :20 in, holding a large camera and wearing a black a bandana over his nose and mouth as he gets forcefully pulled behind police lines and arrested.

Garland is a photographer who goes by Alex (that's his middle name) and if you notice him wearing a gas mask beneath the black bandana, his attorney says that's "because he was pepper sprayed by police earlier in the day, while shooting photos."

Three other protesters still face charges of assaulting officers during the May Day protests, and are set to be arraigned on May 17.

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Charles Mudede Forgives Jay-Z For Everything

Grant Brissey — Tue, 15 May 2012 19:17:38 -0700

And tonight everyone can breath well and sleep deep.

SL Letter of the Day: Bi Boy Problems

Dan Savage — Tue, 15 May 2012 17:34:10 -0700

I'm a 16-year-old bisexual guy with a preference—at least at this point in time—for guys. I have a girlfriend. I have known her for almost five years. We have been in a long-distance relationship since September 2011. Despite the fact that she moved from where I live up to about four hours north by car, we still manage to have a great relationship. For example, I attended her Prom earlier this month.

However, I also attended my city's LGBTQ Prom this past Saturday. There I met a 17-year-old guy that I found somewhat attractive. He hit on me throughout the night. I gave him my number, not thinking he would take that as an initiative to try to start a relationship with me, but that night and the day after, however, he texted me often, and made me both uncomfortable and enthralled.

My girlfriend—let's call her "Selena"—and I have a very good relationship, but, both of us being bisexual, we have discussed the possibility of being in an exclusive heterosexual relationship with one another whil having smaller relationships with the same-gender partners on the side. She had a friend-with-benefits near the beginning of our relationship that she no longer sees but the topic hasn't been brought up in a while. I am worried as to the outcome of telling her about my "crush." Selena has always enjoyed our talks about each other's same-gender attractions, but I'm incredibly clueless as to how to discuss this to her.

The texts that the boy—let's call him "Dave"—sent me, some of them at least, were sexual in nature, and we discussed possibly meeting up and starting a sexual relationship. He lives very close to where I do and attends a school a block from my house. I am a virgin—both genders considered—and the idea of sex right now makes me uneasy. But I am interested. Still, sex as an idea scares me at this point and I don't think I'd be ready for that sort of thing. As such, this afternoon, I told Dave that I felt we were moving too fast. He agreed. I still, though, felt like I wanted to get to know him better, possibly as a future boyfriend.

I suppose I have two problems:

1. How should I talk to Selena about this? I'm sure she wouldn't be too opposed to the idea, but if she were, I would probably feel a bit inhibited. Should I bring it up as a question or as an idea? I'm sincerely clueless.

2. How can I have a good relationship with Dave in a non-sexual way? He has gone as far as giving and receiving blowjobs, and I would be uncomfortable with both at this point in my life. I like him a lot, but is it a bit too much to ask to be more than friends if he is sexually active and I am not interested in the idea.

Thank you very much.

Not Agreeable Intervals

P.S. My apologies if this problem is a bit juvenile.

My response after the jump.

·····················

1. Openly, honestly, directly and without hesitation. It might help if you remind yourself—again and again—that while the stakes feel high right now, NAI, they're actually quite low. You've known Selena for a long time, and you're good friends, and you have a nice, safe, comfortable thing going with her. It sounds like your relationship with Selena has been a nice buffer; that is, this long-distance relationship has allowed you to explore the emotional and social aspects of dating without any sexual pressures or expectations. And this relationship has been great for you, there's been a lot of affection, an you'll no doubt be bummed when it ends. But remember: there aren't a lot of adults out there who are still dating—or who are married to—the folks they were dating in high school. So your relationship with Selena, however wonderful, is destined to end at some point... and if this conversation ends it, well, your relationship with Selena was destined to end at some point, right?

So tell her this: "I went to the LGBTQ Prom and met this boy and he's been calling and texting me and I don't want date him—I'm only somewhat attracted to him and he's more experienced than I am and frankly he's come on a little strong—but honestly I'm enjoying the attention. So I wanted to check in with you about that same-gender-partners-on-the-side arrangement we used to talk about. Not because I'm going to jump into bed with this guy. I'm not ready for sex. But eventually I am going to be ready for sex—including sex with boys—and I think we should talk about this stuff now, Selena."

If Selena freaks out and dumps your ass, well, your relationship with Selena was destined to end at some point, right?

2. Tell Dave you're not ready for sex but you could use a friend.

And don't assume that because Dave's sexually active he wouldn't be interested in a friendship. If it turns out that friendship is "too much to ask" of Dave—if he really is only interested in your dick—he'll let you know by either disappearing or by accepting your friendship so that he can continue to pressuring you for sex. If he disappears on you, well, he wasn't a very nice guy and you didn't lose much. If he accepts your friendship and pressures you for sex then he's a terrible guy and you won't lose much when you disappear on him.

But he might be up for being friends. So ask.

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Did President Obama Swear?

Paul Constant — Tue, 15 May 2012 16:26:39 -0700

So it has come to this:

News of Obama’s usage of the dirty “s” word [NOTE: She means "shit," but she cannot type the word "shit," perhaps because she is Mormon, or an elementary-school student.] came when Huffington Post editor Ethan Klapper tweeted “Obama hot mic just now — ‘I gotta get my sh……’” right after the president allegedly used the full-length version of the obscenity....Fox Nation has muffled audio of the utterance, although I’ve listened to it about ten times and still cannot make out any bad language. And Mary Ann LoFrumento says he never swore to begin with, having tweeted in the aftermath of Klapper’s tweet, “I was sitting close to the President on the platform and he said ‘I gotta get my gift’ referring to his medal of distinction.”

This is the most important issue of our time! Here's the video:

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Heather McHugh Is Giving the Theodore Roethke Memorial Poetry Reading at UW on Thursday

Christopher Frizzelle — Tue, 15 May 2012 16:18:40 -0700

David Belisle

Heather McHugh, the certified genius—by The Stranger and then, a few months later, by John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur—is reading from a wide range of her work on Thursday, May 17, at Kane Hall at 8 pm. It's free. If you care at all about poetry—or humor, or life—you should go.

The Roethke memorial reading is a big deal. This is its 49th year. Past readers: Robert Lowell, Elizabeth Bishop, James Merrill, Seamus Heaney, and other world-famous poets.

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Sage Study Claims Light Rail is Pushing Minorities Out of Rainier Valley

Cienna Madrid — Tue, 15 May 2012 15:49:01 -0700

This post has been updated.

The addition of light rail is driving up rents and hastening gentrification in one of Puget Sound's most racially diverse neighborhoods—Rainier Valley—and without aggressive new jobs and housing policies that favor working class families, the fabric of the neighborhood will be destroyed, argues a report released yesterday by Puget Sound Sage (formerly known as the Seattle Alliance for Good Jobs and Housing for Everyone, or SAGE).

"Since construction of the light rail land values around the stations have increased dramatically," says the Sage report. Already, minority populations are dwindling, the report continues, and "The presence of light rail stations in Rainier Valley is likely to cause more gentrification."

While the minority population grew by 47 percent over the last decade in King County (and the white population shrank by two percent), in Rainier Valley, the trend is reversed: Communities of color only increased by 5 percent over that same period—and the white population increased by 17 percent.

The study notes that 23 percent of low-income Rainier Valley residents depend on public transit to get to work (versus only 14 percent of their more affluent neighbors)—and thus would benefit the most from transit-oriented development.

"The report highlights, and we hear it over and over again, that the success of light rail threatens to destroy what we find beautiful in the neighborhood," explains Seattle City Council member Mike O'Brien, a staunch advocate for more light rail who expressed concern not only for low-income residents but for local businesses in the area. "The mix of cultural businesses is critical and they might not exist if real estate triples in the next few years. We're pretty good about housing in the city, but when it comes to affordable retail space, it's definitely a new field for us."

City officials have already recognized the importance of preserving south Seattle neighborhoods—most recently around the Othello light rail station, with a newly-launched city initiative that seeks to stabilize small businesses in the area and build a multicultural center for residents (here's a .pdf of the initiative). But Sage's new report, "Transit Oriented Development that’s Healthy, Green and Just," suggests it's not enough:

"Existing efforts are likely to fall short of stemming the tide of displacement or realizing a vision that puts racial justice at the center of Transit Oriented Development (TOD) planning," the study states. The goal of transit-oriented development is, of course, to encourage the growth of dense, walkable communities with healthy public transit options to reduce our reliance on cars.

Although it's short on details, the 50-page study lists 16 recommendations for curbing displacement along southeast Seattle's light rail corridor, including:

· Create "local, high quality jobs in TOD projects in Rainier Valley—including both short-term construction jobs and long-term, on-site jobs."

· Along those lines, the report also recommends pushing for higher wages at service-sector jobs along the light rail corridor—like at SeaTac airport, where current wages rival those of McDonald's employees.

· Ensure affordable childcare near light rail stations for working parents.

· Support "community-controlled development" to help "stabilize Rainier Valley residents"—in other words, promote nonprofit development projects, like El Centro de la Raza's mixed-use affordable housing and performance center space, in lieu of for-profit development projects.

· Turn surplus Sound Transit property into affordable housing and affordable commercial development projects through "joint development projects."

· Include communities of color in TOD decision-making, not just stakeholder meetings to achieve racial equity outcomes.

But the report neglects to explain how many of the recommendations could, or should, be implemented. What role does the city have in dictating working wages, for example?

"One of the tricks is figuring out how to do that," O'Brien says. Over the coming months, O'Brien is organizing meetings with his fellow council members and Sage representatives to figure out how the recommendations can be absorbed by various city entities and projects.

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Woman Reportedly Nicknamed "Little Tits" Wins Sexual Discrimination Suit

Cienna Madrid — Tue, 15 May 2012 15:42:40 -0700

A 21-year-old British waitress, who was reportedly nicknamed "little tits" by her manager (though he denies it), has been awarded 10,000 pounds in a sexual discrimination lawsuit against the pub where she worked.

Miss Broughton, 21, told the panel Mr Stephens asked her if she was wearing a push-up bra to enhance her cleavage after he had been drinking. When the university graduate did not respond, he said: “Well you really should.”

Miss Broughton said he then told her the pub, the Rutland Arms in Sheffield, would get more customers and she would receive more tips if she boosted her décolletage.

She told the tribunal how the comments, which lasted over a six-month period, affected her confidence. "I felt upset and degraded and very self-conscious," she said. "I was a bit scared. I didn't want to talk about it to anyone."

As Bethany said in the office, good for her for having the guts to sue that asshole and the asshole pub that decided he would make a good manager of people.

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Ron Paul Clears Things Up

Paul Constant — Tue, 15 May 2012 15:35:26 -0700

Now his fans are going to have to go through the seven steps of grief all over again!

Texas Rep. Ron Paul (R) has conceded that he cannot win the presidential nomination, but he is not dropping out of the race, his campaign announced Tuesday morning.

So he can't win the nomination, but he's still in the race. It's the Newt Gingrich strategy, then, is it?

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Dick McManus Will Not Be on the Ballet

Goldy — Tue, 15 May 2012 15:33:24 -0700

McManus for Congress
Dick McManus did not raise enough "contrabutions" to pay the filing to fee to get on the "ballet" in WA-02.

Democratic US Representative Rick Larsen just dodged a bullet in WA-02, where Democratic challenger Dick McManus has apparently announced that he is dropping out of the race... or the dance... or something. You read the exact wording of his statement for yourself and see if you can figure it out:

Because I have not raised $1,740 in campaign contrabutions, my name and issues will not be on the ballet.

It's hard to imagine how the McManus campaign was so shockingly derailed, but I can only presume that failing to raise enough money to pay the filing fee might have something to do with it. Also, spelling.

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What if Kurt Cobain had Lived?

Grant Brissey — Tue, 15 May 2012 15:23:20 -0700

The first part in Derek Erdman's investigative report, which is based completely on SCIENCE.

Murder by Death Penalty

Bethany Jean Clement — Tue, 15 May 2012 15:03:11 -0700

thewrongcarlos.net
Can you tell these men apart? Neither could the death penalty.

Surprise, surprise—people, who are fallible, can apparently make mistakes when they kill other people for killing people. And the case in Texas reported on here is just terrible. Take it away, Supreme Court justice Antonin Scalia:

A few years ago, Antonin Scalia, one of the nine justices on the US supreme court, made a bold statement. There has not been, he said, "a single case – not one – in which it is clear that a person was executed for a crime he did not commit. If such an event had occurred … the innocent's name would be shouted from the rooftops."

Start shouting, people, and check out the amazing, exhaustive work done by the Columbia Human Rights Law Review on the anatomy of a wrongful execution.

Is it possible that only this one innocent man has been killed? Snowball's chance in hell. Humans can't even get an eye for an eye right. The death penalty is unconscionable hubris.

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Maybe "Drug War" Is Now a Misnomer

Brendan Kiley — Tue, 15 May 2012 14:32:13 -0700

From this Sunday's NYT:

COLIMA, Mexico — After her son Alfredo was killed last year at his auto parts shop, Carmen Plascencia de Carrillo noticed that two half sisters skipped the wake and funeral.

“Maybe your son was involved in other things,” Mrs. Carrillo recalled them explaining, to her fury.

A brother of the victim, Rafael Carrillo, found neighbors keeping their distance from him. He was also told not to come to a cousin’s wedding for fear he might pose a risk to other guests. A sister’s food stand experienced a decline in customers.

From what the reporter was able to dig up, Alfredo de Carrillo seemed to be the victim of an extortion racket—some Mexican officials didn't answer the reporter's calls and others were typically vague—but the community is now afraid to get anywhere near his family.

The article is a good step in documenting some of the underreported social damage of the drug war.

But it misses one important point: the drug war isn't about an "underworld" and an "overworld." The drug war in Mexico is part of the world, a single economy that is integrated between government and narcos, and has been growing in that direction since the early 1900s. (For some evidence on this, see here, here [they arrested the mayor, the police chief, a city trustee and nine others, all of whom pleaded guilty], here, here, here, here, and pretty much anywhere else you care to look.)

The laws might look clear, but their enforcement is fuzzy, and not everyone is treated equally—and they haven't been since the landed gentry (politically influential people growing cannabis and opium poppies) and a few friends in the military started to coalesce into drug-trafficking organizations shortly after the Harrison Narcotics Act passed in 1914. And here we are today.

It's worth remembering this when you read drug-war stories that pretend there's still a clear line between the cops and the robbers, the political chiefs and the narco chiefs. "Drug war" itself may now be a misnomer. It's not the Allies vs. the Axis powers, the good guys vs. the bad guys—it's just one bloody economy where business disputes are settled with chainsaws instead of lawsuits.

It's also worth noting that an entire generation of children is currently growing up who have learned the ethics of drug war—corrupt cops and elected officials, unchecked assassins, rampant suspicion among communities, the routine murder of innocents, the assumption that victims are implicated by their own victimization—as their internal blueprint for the social contract.

And the next stop on this train? Africa. Hopefully, the lessons we've learned the hard way in the Americas will not go unheeded across the Atlantic.

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The Stranger Needs a Books Intern

Paul Constant — Tue, 15 May 2012 14:27:47 -0700

Superstar books intern Catherine R. Smyka needs her life back, and that means I need a new books intern to start at the end of this month. Could that books intern be you?

Here are the nuts and bolts of it: Internships last three months, and they take up about ten to twelve hours a week or so of your time per week. They are unpaid, though there are lots of free books involved. Duties include assembling the readings calendar, filing the dozens of new books that come into The Stranger's offices every week, and contacting publishers with book requests and review information. Organization is important, accuracy is key, and a good sense of humor helps. Being a reader is a necessity, although favorite genres and topics are entirely unimportant. This is a good gig for booksellers, librarians, people looking for clips to start them on the path to the lucrative field of book reviewing, and people who would like to learn more about different aspects of the publishing industry.

If this is you, or if you would just like more information about the internship, please send me an e-mail at pconstant@thestranger.com. Put "Internship" in the subject line, tell me why you think you'd be a good intern and what you'd like to get out of the internship, and include some writing samples. I hope to hear from you soon.