Jim

Jay - Oh that type of talk will get hackels up. My wife has an MS in Geology and is one of the few science teachers in Seattle who has actually worked in any science field. Most science teachers have a teaching degree with a bit of science. Any discussion of merit pay or diference in pay based on scarcity or comparable job load is off limits. I think the main problem that the pay is so crappy and the hours and demands so high it's hard to attract talented folks to the profession and if they manage to do so they get toasted over 5 years. Very hard job, I don't think I could do it. And one of us has to pull in a decent salary anyway.

Recently went to all digital (execpt still have the Nikon FM) with a Nikon D80 and a Nikon P60 (lost the 5200 while skiing!!). The Nikon line of point and shoots seem to produce very sharp images.

Carl's Foreign Auto 2605 NE 55th St Seattle, WA, 98105 (206) 527-7234 good guy, reasonably priced, honest. I think he's only open Mon-Thur.

I don't buy this. Unless people are gonna be allowed to buy M-1 tanks, RPG's, and shoulder-launched SAM's, the US populace has no hope in hell if the government actually decided to turn against its own people militarily. Even armed to the teeth with .357's and hunting rifles as we are, there'd be no prayer. I don't buy it either - but for other reasons. Having guns hasn't helped much while the Idiot has instituted illegal wiretaps, extrodinary rendition, torture, GITMO, etc. It's a quaint idea, but having guns is not what will stop tyranny.

OK - you're on. Loser also has to wear an election button from the winning candidate!!

Conversely I recently had a chat with some folks at a get-together who spilled out their tale of woe. Mortgaged up to their eyeballs on a teaser rate. Guess what after two years? Rates go way up and they can't unload the anchor around their neck. I nodded sympathetically while thinking WTF were you thinking? Certainly looks like your cautious approach while in the NE temporarily worked out just fine.

So Seattle housing prices are down 5.5% from the peak. Given I'm not selling my house until after it's paid off in 10 more years, I'm not losing any sleep over this.

I hear you. But just hearing the continued propaganda from the Bushies makes one want to shout LIAR! Anyway - For now, we're in a dicey position. We've extended ourselves too far and are losing where it counts - in Afganistan - and where the threat is looming in the tribal regions of Pakistan. I think even the most devoted republicans would have to admit we made one of the worst blunders in political calculation with Iraq. It's a mess and there is no good way out. It will haunt us for decades.

This is total BS and a really pathetic reach. There was no evidence that Hussein had any designs on terrorism in the US. He was bottled up quite tight. You don't go in and destroy a country and kick over the beehive using a "just in case" strategy. I want an adult in the White House. Pity is we have to wait another 9 months.

Last night and continuing tonight PBS Frontline (http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/) is showing Bush's War, which goes through the details of the falsification of intelligence; ignoring seasoned veterns of the Pentagon, State Department, and Foreign Service; false press leaks, propoganda, and truth twisting used by the administration. Cheney and his office clowns, Rumsfield, and the rest of the necons wanted this war at all costs. There's great interviews with many of the inside players and it makes you wonder how, with a nutcase like this in the White House, an unjustified war could be stopped when Congress was spineless and the press complicit. Well, we got what the Idiot wanted and what all the experts in his administration warned against.

So here's the twist. Financial instutions lobbied and recieved the ability to go unregulated into fancy investment vehicles. Banks, which are more regulated, have access to the taxpayer-funded Fed discount window in times of trouble. Now that there's serious trouble in Dodge the cowboys are getting access to the Fed discount window anyway. Great deal boys! Basically shifting, again, the investment risk to the taxpayers. Abosolute corporate welfare.

Kilbeggan - if you can get your hands on it over here. Or for something interesting - Connemarra (peat-smoked single malt). Both made by Cooley - the only Irish-owned independent whiskey distillery. I'm not a whiskey drinker but the spouse, friends, and I went thru a bottle of Kilbeggan pretty quick after a visit with the relatives on the Isle.

I read that Bush is planning to invade China so democracy will flourish.

Interested in a friendly wager? That McCain will lose either way? Yep. Dinner and beer at a local brew pub.

Given the current state of affairs, no matter who is the Dem candidate, they will win. McCain will come off like a sweet grandfather, but not too bright. If it's Obama - it will be a landslide.

In CA recently: "If you're not supposed to eat animals why are they made of meat?"

Muff - what part of town will you be in? Is your SO headed for the cheesesteak place on Capitol Hill (the one where the owner was shot a month ago?) or the funny little one in Madison Valley owned by the ex-Philly guy who also imports Tastycakes from the east coast? I'll pitch a few suggestions for brew that will keep you from driving too far.

I think you need to read your own links. I'm not clear why you posted the GLBA link, which gave banks the ability to get into securities. What was ignored by the Bushies, and to a lesser extent the Clintons, was the ramifications of monitoring investments vechiles, truth in advertising by the rating agencies, and scrunity of lending practices. And as far as the second link to the Primary Dealer Credit Facility - that's just offering more guarantees to the freaked-out banking industry. Not much of a free hand there eh?

I agree with you. The lobbists looking over the shoulder of Congress are not pushing for public interest, but their own.

Well I'm not so sure the deciding factor was that they did not keep up with marketplace changes but chose to ignore the changes and the potential consequences. Some simple rules, which are now in the works, regarding oversight of lending practices (duh - don't lend money to folks who can't afford it) and more oversight of the credit rating firms and wall street who managed to turn investments worse than junk bonds into AAA rating investment vehicles. Capitalism is inherently greedy and cares for nothing but short-term gains, particularly the way it is practiced on Wall Street these days. So with some relatively mild oversight the Feds could have avoided this mess. Instead, they chose to let the market self-regulate, with the ensuing effects well outside the sphere of Wall Street. And now they choose to ignore the market forces solution when the financial elite come knocking at the door. No reason to throw the baby out with the bathwater. But a more reasoned approach to government regulation of capitalism will make for stronger long-term financial institutions. I'm really tired of the "get government off our backs" crowd, especially when they cost us billions when their get-rich-quck schemes go south.

Another great example of the "free market" at work. Financial institutions allowed to run amuck without adult supervision come up with ingenious schemes to turn risky investments into Wall Street AAA bonds. They start losing their shirts when the inevitable crash comes along. Instead of letting the market sort it out by punishing the losers what do we do? We guarantee the estimated $30 Billion in bad paper held by Bear Stearns and keep slashing interest rates. Amazing that the "market forces" theory of governance is thrown out any time there's a consideration of more money for childern's heath care, transportation, etc. But when the masters of the universe need a monumental government bailout - well that's an exception to the rule. Always has been, always will be. The Idiot and his cronnies are screwing things up even more than I expected. There is going to be more to this story. Seems like we're headed for another S&L type bailout.

There is something charmingly rude about the east coast that I miss out here. This would never happen in Seattle.

Interlaken is cool,but touristy, but very accessible to hiking and climbing. I stayed in Vevey, on Lake Geneva for a couple weeks. You might want to consder looping it into your plans. Very nice place for a romantic couple

This detour was opend up a couple months ago. You can go under the bridge now - it's on one of my commute loops home. There's one sharper turn now because of some construction fencing but you don't have to ride on the road. Some things in the work for the new Seattle Bicycle Master Plan: http://www.seattle.gov/Transportation/bikemaster.htm

Everyone is jumping on the "green wash" bandwagon. There's more money going into PR than actual efforts to DO something.