The Seattle Times: Opinion Northwest

I-5 bridge collapse raises questions about Washington state bridges

Fri, 24 May 2013 09:32:30 PDT

In the aftermath of the collapse of the I-5 bridge over the Skagit River, commuters who cross bridges everyday for work and school took to social media to wonder about the safety of their travel routes. With all of the work and planning being done on the Highway 520 bridge - a floating span called "earthquake- and storm-vulnerable," by state Sen. Rodney Tom in a 2011 Times Oped - but also the Alaskan Way Viaduct and other roadways across water, how do drivers maintain confidence in these structures?

Early investigation into the I-5 bridge collapse point to an oversized truck that may have hit a vulnerable part of the bridge, triggering the collapse. Times writer Mike Lindblom lays it out here. But for the rest of the state, the quick answer is our bridges are as safe as regular Washington state Department of Transportation inspections show them to be.

A better question about bridge safety underscores the age, wear and tear of our bridges. Peruse this list of what the state calls "structurally deficient bridges." Five pages listing bridges around the state, their problems and what's being done about it. It is hard to know whether the list should be frightening or reassuring. At least we know our bridges need work and are tackling the looming challenges. But it shouldn't take a civil engineering degree for the average person to get a sense of the scope of the needs and whether long-term plans are aggressive enough to tackle them.

We dodged a bullet with only a few injuries and cars falling into the water. I still remember the 2007 bridge collapse in Minneapolis that killed 13, apparently due to a flaw in the bridge's design. We can appreciate the relatively light impact of the I-5 bridge collapse while also asking pertinent questions about the efficacy of all our structures.

At least money won't necessarily be a problem, Rep. Rick Larsen, issued a statement this morning saying that he had talked with Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood. Secretary LaHood confirmed that the Department of Transportation has emergency funds available to aid repairs. The Department of Transportation has established an interagency task force to expedite the permitting process for the bridge repair.

What do you want to hear from the Seattle Mayor candidates?

Fri, 24 May 2013 09:40:37 PDT

Before Seattle City Council member Tim Burgess suddenly dropped out of the Mayor's race, he mostly stuck to his core issues of Seattle Police reforms, better public schools and road maintenance. He led the field in fundraising, but he fared badly in several recent endorsements, including the King County Young Democrats and the 46th Legislative District Democrats.

The most recent SurveyUSA/King5 poll (which doesn't include late filers) shows the nine-candidate field as a four-way race, with Mayor Mike McGinn (22%), ex-city council member Peter Steinbrueck (17%), state Sen. Ed Murray (15%) and city council member Bruce Harrell (12%) all being beaten by Undecided (23%).

With 75 days until the primary, what do you want to hear from the candidate (list, contacts and fundraising reports here)? Pick your top three.

Seattle marijuana zoning just words on paper without enforcement

Fri, 24 May 2013 08:14:28 PDT

The Seattle City Council's proposed marijuana zoning rules would have been great a year ago. But as I was sitting in on a City Hall news conference yesterday, I wondered what difference it would really make.

A year ago, when the 2012 Legislature failed to pass medical marijuana regulations, cities were stuck cleaning up the mess of a vaguely-defined, unregulated but booming business in storefront marijuana dispensaries. Seattle had adopted the loosest of rules - essentially requiring marijuana businesses to operate like any other business.

But even those haven't been followed. The city itself identifies 24 of the 164 Seattle marijuana businesses as lacking business licenses. As of last year, just 50 marijuana businesses statewide paid sales taxes.

Anecdotally, I've heard stories of shoddy wiring in unlicensed commercial marijuana grows catching fire, in one case causing a transformer to blow. In my neighborhood of Wallingford, I watched an unlicensed dispensary, J&K Collective, move into the basement of a house across the street from a pre-school, smack in the middle of a single-family residential zone. My neighbor, mother of elementary-school-aged twins, complained to the city about customers smoking spliffs in the driveway. The city gave light nudges, and it took a full six months for them to voluntarily move, according to city documents.

After a year of glacial Seattle process, the City Council is now preparing to overlay zoning rules on top of an established industry, one moving at warp speed in preparation of the December launch of a recreational market. Does the city propose to bring existing marijuana businesses into compliance? Will unlicensed medical marijuana grows suddenly pop to the surface because of the city says they should?

Unless the rules are enforced, they will be words on paper. I'm skeptical they will be enforced, based on history and on the pot-loving politics of Seattle. What city department wants to be equated with the DEA?

I want the industry to thrive, and for Washington to be the world's test case for a new way on drug policy. But spotty enforcement screws the entrepreneurs who are trying to do it right (and there are plenty, including Dockside Co-op's Oscar Velasco-Schmitz, in video below), while rewarding the cowboys operating on an old underground mentality. And the feds have cracked down on Colorado's tightly-regulated medical marijuana market far less than California's wild-west market. Enforcement is no prophylactic against federal intervention, but it clearly makes a difference.

I hope I'm wrong, and that the large-scale grows necessary for Initiative 502 market will be rationally funneled into industrial zones. We'll see.

Here's City Council president Sally Clark on a marijuana industry panel.

Apple juice on Capitol Hill

Thu, 23 May 2013 09:16:05 PDT

Apple executives were shocked, shocked to find U.S. senators who were amazed at the technology giant's capacity to avoid taxes. Maybe the incredulous response was appropriate. Congressional indifference has aided and abetted the scam for years.

Apple moves billions of dollars around the planet before it lands in Ireland for a bit of Irish cream. Low taxes and, sweeter still, tax avoidance.

The Senate appearance by Apple CEO Tim Cook was, in effect, an homage to the power and influence of Apple in U.S. politics. The company gets to use the federal services in the United States, and not pay its fair share of them. That is left to you and me. How do you like that arrangement?

One has to marvel at the magic of Apple's legal and accounting crews. The Los Angles Times story described how one of the companies, Apple Operations International, which has no employees, reported $30 billion in income in four years, and has not filed an income-tax return in any country for the past five years.

Right. So if you wait tables or work as a barista, try not reporting any tips for a few years. Expect a call.

Oh, and the best part, Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky., the deficit hawk, cannot understand what the fuss is all about with Apple. Any pursuit of equity for mere mortal taxpayers would be "bullying, berating and badgering" one of his district's favorite constituents.

The Senate supports an Israeli 'defensive' attack against Iran

Thu, 23 May 2013 17:01:06 PDT

On Wednesday the U.S. Senate approved, 99-0, Senate Resolution 65 urging the U.S. government to offer “diplomatic, military, and economic support to the Government of Israel” in the event that Israel’s government “is compelled to take military action in legitimate self-defense against Iran's nuclear weapons program.”

The resolution, sponsored by Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., and Sen. Robert Mendenez, D-N.J.,

says any help should be “in accordance with United States law and the constitutional responsibility of Congress to authorize the use of military force.” Those words weren’t in the resolution at the start, and were added by amendment, I presume, to round up all the Senators’ votes. I’m glad the words were added, because for 65 years, ever since President Truman’s undeclared war in Korea, Congress has inadequately guarded its constitutional prerogatives on war. The resolution also says, "Nothing in this resolution shall be construed as an authorization for the use of force or a declaration of war."Still, I would have voted “no.”

First of all, the resolution declares that the United States “has a vital national interest in, and unbreakable commitment to, ensuring the existence, survival, and security of the State of Israel,” and I don’t think it does. A commitment, yes. A vital national interest, no. “Vital” comes from the Latin, vita, life, and means necessary for life, or indispensable. Israel is not necessary or indispensable to the United States, even if the United States is necessary or indispensable to Israel.

Secondly, the resolution speaks of Israel being “compelled to take military action.” Who judges whether Israel is compelled? The resolution says nothing about waiting until Iran attacks first, or until an attack is imminent (which it isn't). The assumption is that Israel will make a preventive attack. And if Israel’s government does that, it will say it was compelled. Is Congress accepting, in advance, a foreign government’s judgment about its own act of war? I think it is.

Regarding the danger of nuclear weapons, remember that several governments in that region already have them. Including Israel's.

The U.S. House of Representatives should reject GOP student loan bill

Thu, 23 May 2013 18:16:04 PDT

UPDATE: The U.S. House of Representatives voted 221 to 198 in favor of a Republican plan to avert a scheduled doubling of student loan interest rates. The bill now goes to the Senate which is unlikely to take it up anytime soon because of ongoing work on the farm bill for now and immigration next month. Good.

Even though Congress needs to act by July 1 or student loan interest rates will jump from 3.4 percent to 6.8 percent, the bill passed Thursday by the House is a terrible solution. It would set a temporary low interest rate on students loans but the problem is future interest rates would be attached to 10-year Treasury notes. That sets in motion interest rates that would vary with the markets. Hundreds of thousands of student borrowers would be saddled with higher, rather than lower, debt.

A better option, offered by U.S. Rep Suzan DelBene, D-Washington, was blocked by Republican leadership from even coming up for a vote. DelBene's bill would have kept current low student loan interest rates for two years while Congress worked on a long-term solution. The Senate has a bill similar to the one offered by DelBene.

A nation that already owes more than $1 trillion in student loans must do something to rein in student loan interest rates. But the GOP plan harms students more than it helps them. The Congressional Budget Office projects the legislative plan would translate to a 5 percent interest rate on Stafford loans in 2014. Sounds okay, right? But that rate would soar to 7.7 percent in 2023. Moreover, Stafford loan rates would be capped at 8.5 percent, while loans for parents and graduate students would have a 10.5 percent ceiling under the GOP proposal. This Congressional Research Office analysis does the math.

GOP sponsors of the bill are trying to sell it as a facsimile of a proposal by the Obama administration. Not quite. Yes, President Obama supports tying student loan interest rates to an economic indicator - many Democratic lawmakers do. But the details of the president's plan matter. The president included in his Fiscal Year 2014 budget proposal a plan to annually set student loan rates to the Treasury's cost of borrowing. That rate would be fixed for the life of the loan, giving the student borrower certainty about rates. President Obama's proposal would also expand the "Pay as You Earn" repayment option so no borrower ends up paying more than 10 percent of his or her discretionary income for student loans.

If Congress does not act by July, at a time when market interest rates are at historic lows higher rates would hit more than 7 million students nationwide. This Times editorial urged Congress to extend the lower interest rate for at least two more years. The move would be meaningful to Washington college students. Last year, 45 percent of the freshmen enrolled in this state’s public higher-education system borrowed for college. College graduates are emerging from institutions in this state with an average debt of $22,244, according to the Project on Student Debt.

Despite the many problems with the Congressional Republicans' bill, it is expected to be approved by the full House. It should be dead on arrival in the Senate, where a companion to DelBene's bill offers the better alternative. If the Republican bill somehow makes it out of Congress, President Obama should carry out his promise to veto it.

Do not exploit gay rights issue to stop immigration reform

Wed, 22 May 2013 14:46:06 PDT

The U.S. Senate is on the verge of debating comprehensive immigration reform, and there are signs Republicans and Democrats are cooperating to finally pass a substantial bill. The Senate Judiciary Committee's 13-5 decision Monday to send the measure to the floor is a big deal, and though I support equal rights for same-sex couples (and this board advocates enthusiastically for same-sex marriage), now is not the time for any special interest groups to exploit an emotional issue that risks killing the entire legislation.

Here's an Associated Press story outlining the sweeping changes in the proposal. In general, the bill provides a pathway to citizenship for 11 million undocumented immigrants and a legal means for foreign workers of all skills levels to cross the border. The measure was in limbo for days over a proposed amendment that would have granted gay Americans the right to obtain a green card for their foreign-born partners. Some Republicans call the idea a "non-starter."

I think that view is antiquated and totally unfair, but we have to deal with the issue before us. Comprehensive immigration reform needs the support of both parties to get anywhere. As the editorial board noted in April 10 and April 20 editorials, it's taken nearly three decades to reach this point.

Focusing on making immigration laws more effective doesn't mean we have to sweep the struggles of same-sex couples under the rug. It means we should simultaneously look at changing the federal government's Defense of Marriage Act. Repealing DOMA would make this controversy over granting visas to foreign-born partners a non-issue. The Supreme Court is expected to weigh in any day now.

Not an ideal solution, but a pragmatic one that will — eventually — satisfy everyone.

Tom Stritikus, Susan Enfield on overcoming poverty and educating South King County kids

Wed, 22 May 2013 08:16:04 PDT

Earlier this week, Seattle Times reporter Lornet Turnbull wrote about the growth of poverty in South King County's suburban communities. She highlighted the findings of a new Brookings Institute study that concludes a lack of affordable housing has led low-income households to move outside Seattle city limits.

In particular, the last line in the article caught my attention: “We should create and re-create economic opportunities for people in South King County, but we should also be working to give them access to homes and jobs in higher-opportunity parts of the region, like the Eastside," said Alan Berube, one of the study's authors.

For now, let's focus on the former point. If education is the great equalizer in our society, then we have to rely on our educators to get through to the next generation in these communities. In case you missed our previous "Education Conversations" segments, I want to bring your attention to our interviews with Highline School District Superintendent Susan Enfield and University of Washington College of Education Dean Tom Stritikus.

Enfield serves a primarily low-income, incredibly diverse area south of Seattle. Stritikus also spoke about this population and altering the growing opportunity gap between students in poor and wealthier areas.

Their ideas are prescient and worth sharing.

Whether you're an educator, a student or a parent — right-click and save the images below and post them to your Facebook, Pinterest or Twitter accounts. Click on this link to watch more of their interviews and to learn about the editorial board's "3 to 23" education initiative.

The Obama administration's war on whistle-blowers

Tue, 21 May 2013 11:31:06 PDT

The Obama administration is compiling a dismal record on whistle-blowers, which we editorialized against today, including this appalling fact: more people have been charged with leaking information about U.S.-sponsored torture than have been charged with torturing. (see Steve Coll's profile of CIA John Kiriakou.)

The same goes for the National Security Agency's warrantless wiretapping program in the U.S. The New Yorker's Jane Mayer's profile of N.S.A. whistle-blower Thomas Drake ends with this telling quote:

“The Bush people have been let off. The telecom companies got immunity. The only people Obama has prosecuted are the whistle-blowers.”

The administration's overzealous pursuit whistle-blowers was on display yesterday, with a disturbing Washington Post story about full, creepy surveillance of a reporter's working relationship with a State department security adviser. The affidavit supporting the snooping describes the reporter as a criminal "co-conspirator and/or aider and abettor" (page 28) because, ya know, the reporter was doing some reporting. Such a case would be a landmark infringement on the First Amendment, justifiable because of one leak? A bizarrely disproportionate response.

That pattern was in my head as I watched "We Steal Secrets," the WikiLeaks documentary at the Seattle International Film Festival. Army Pfc. Bradley Manning is the admitted source of the biggest leak of official secrets in history, and pleaded guilty to 10 of the 22 charges against him. He faces 20 years in prison. He knew what he was doing, but like most whistle-blowers, believed the public needed to see what he saw.

But Manning didn't plead to the most serious charge, aiding the enemy, akin to treason. Good, because that prosecution is based on an absurd stretch of the definition of whistle-blower.

As Kevin Gosztola, a freelance reporter who has covered the military proceedings at Fort Meade, explains, Osama bin Laden asked for, and got, some of the WikiLeaks diplomatic cables leaked by Manning. Manning is essentially charged with handing cables to bin Laden, even he lost control of how the information would be used once he passed it to WikiLeaks.

According to Gosztola, the judge in the case asked, If we substitute the New York Times for WikiLeaks, would you still try Bradley Manning in the same way? The answer: yes.

"What a lot of people don’t’ understand is that Manning being prosecuted for being a source," said Gosztola.

Manning deserves to go to prison. But the treason charge, and pre-trial confinement conditions that have been compared to torture, are part of the Obama administration's war on whistle-blowers.

http://youtu.be/YcGB3rvhgb8

Auditing the IRS scandal for details

Tue, 21 May 2013 09:31:05 PDT

The kerfuffle over the Internal Revenue Service’s treatment of tea party groups seeking tax exemptions might be more bureaucratic mush than political malice.

A lengthy story Sunday in The New York Times by three reporters describes the implosion that occurred when the Cincinnati IRS office was flooded with 60,000 paper applications seeking to qualify for a niche category of political activity and tax avoidance. The goal was 501(c)4 status that does not require registering as a political action committee or disclosing donors.

All of the anger and frustration with the IRS is understandable, but it is also just as evident the table pounding is an effort to revive moribund tea party groups. They did not have much, they did not offer much. Now they have Righteous Indignation to exploit.

The Cincinnati office was overwhelmed with work, and no one in the IRS hierarchy appears to have noticed or cared. The employees in the administratively obscure department that screened the applications started looking for shortcuts, and a processing shorthand to sort out the applications. The key-word technique also snagged liberal groups looking for special tax treatment in the social welfare category, along with the tea party groups.

The IRS has a duty to staff up to meet these challenges. The work cannot be sloughed off to the agency’s hinterlands, and expect no one will notice. At the same time, Congress has a duty to provide the budgets to pay for the work. Congress cannot play it both ways, looking for kudos for budget cuts, and whining about the mistreatment of citizens by a plodding bureaucracy.

The IRS comes off badly for process and procedures, but the lame, self-serving congressional efforts to turn this into a Nixonian abuse of tax authority suggests nothing else to talk about.

Corrected: Bellevue City Council's ethics challenge

Tue, 21 May 2013 19:46:04 PDT

Corrected version

The Bellevue City Council needs a strong ethics policy because of the size and scope of the city's responsibilities. Three council members have been investigated and cleared of conflicts of interest in recent years. An outside investigator cleared Bellevue City Councilmember Kevin Wallace in 2011 of any conflict between his business dealings and his push to reroute Sound Transit's future light-rail line in South Bellevue. A Times editorial noted, however, that Wallace should have disclosed his business dealings to the public.

A Seattle Times report on plans by Eastside real-estate developer Kemper Freeman to build a $1.2 billion expansion of his shopping and dining complex in downtown Bellevue is not related to the ethics issue, but news of major developments in the city does heighten the stakes. As this Seattle Times editorial Tuesday noted, the council has spent two years working on rules guiding ethical behavior and potential conflicts of interest for elected officials. Time to act.

The council has been distracted by allegations of ethics violations and conflicts of interests for about as long as the council has been planning a Sound Transit rail line. Two years ago, rancor reached a level where even divided members of the council agreed guidance was needed in the form of an ethics policy. State ethics laws are too broad to address the gray areas that many local elected officials find themselves in. Bellevue has a part-time council and its members hold jobs that sometimes bring them into contact with city planning, zoning and other policies. This Times story outlines an outside investigator's look in 2011 into potential conflicts of interests involving three council members. All three were absolved, including: Wallace; Claudia Balducci, another current council member, and Grant Degginger, who has since left the council.

The Bellevue council is considering a proposed ordinance borrowed from the Kirkland City Council. Discussion at the last Council study session was long and lively. The agenda packet included a 20-page Q&A on the proposed code of ethics. It is very thorough and worth reading. The council session video is here, with the ethics discussion starting about 40 minutes in. The council is working to strike a balance between a strong policy and one that is not so inflexible that it discourages citizens from serving on the council or on city boards and commissions. Still, the lack of action at the end was disappointing. The proposal is scheduled for the March 28 agenda. The council must act then.

Information in this article, originally published May 20, 2013, was corrected May 21, 2013. A previous version of this story incompletely reported an investigation into Bellevue City Councilmember Kevin Wallace. The investigation exonerated Wallace of any wrongdoing.

Tim Eyman, in Spokane, speaking for the rights of the left

Tue, 21 May 2013 10:01:05 PDT

The state’s master of tax limitation by ballot measure is no lefty, and voters of a progressive stripe typically scorn anything with his name on it. But Tim Eyman of Mukilteo says he's for the people's right to vote on ballot measures whether right or left. That is an issue in Spokane, where the progressive group Envision Spokane tried in 2009 and 2011 to pass a “Community Bill of Rights,” and are trying again now.

The 2009 measure has been pared down to four planks. First, “Neighborhood residents have the right to determine the future of their neighborhood.” Second, “The right to a healthy Spokane River and aquifer.” Third, “Employees have the right to constitutional protections in the workplace.” Fourth, “Corporate powers shall be subordinate to people’s rights.” This last is an attempt to nullify the U.S. Supreme Court ruling in Citizens United v. Federal Elections Commission.

The Spokane measure is not friendly to business, and Greater Spokane Inc. (the chamber of commerce) has been trying to keep this and another ballot measure, banning corporate lobbying, off the ballot. The chamber's argument is that both measures are unconstitutional, and they may well be. But at the state level, the rule is that the people get to vote. If they approve a measure, opponents can ask a court to declare it unconstitutional. But the effort of collecting signatures gives you the privilege of having it on the ballot, and the right of the people to vote on it.

At the local level it hasn't been that way. Cities often sue to keep measures they don't want off the ballot. Monroe and Longview did with ballot measures to shut down traffic cameras.

In standing with the Spokane progressives, Eyman is also promoting his next ballot measure, Initiative 517. This measure would declare that at the local level, the collection of enough valid signatures would put a measure on the ballot. No more pre-election challenges.

A related fight is underway in Vancouver. There a proposed ballot measure would stop the city from spending money on any Columbia River Crossing project that includes light rail. Opponents of light rail collected enough signatures to get it on the ballot. The Vancouver Columbian reported that the city is refusing to put it there, arguing that it is unconstitutional.

Eyman would say it is not the city's business to determine that. It's the court's business, and after the people vote.

What is the point of voting on a measure that is unconstitutional? There is a point. It puts that issue on the table for public discussion--and an issue is not unconstitutional. The vote is an official measure of public sentiment on it. The words approved by the people may be invalid as a statute, but they still constitute a thought. A request. A voice. A kind of lobbying by the whole electorate. And there is value in that.

Commencement season is when we celebrate college dreams turned into reality

Mon, 20 May 2013 14:16:05 PDT

http://youtu.be/e50Tt9qJRQk

President Obama's commencement speech Sunday at Morehouse College in Atlanta underscored the still-vital role of historically black colleges and universities, known as HBCUs. These institutions were created when African Americans and other students of color were shut out of American universities and colleges. They remain an critical option for many students, educating a disproportionate share of low-income and minority students. Without HBCUs, many students would emerge from high school without a higher education option.

The challenge is how to get more students to make the leap from high school to college. About 66.2 percent of last year's high school graduates were enrolled in colleges or

universities, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. My recent column argued for more state funding and support of programs that help struggling high school students graduate and move on to college or a four-year university. Guidance counselors used to divvy up the student body and work one-on-one with students, but tight budgets have whittled the ranks of guidance counselors. All students need help starting in middle school navigating the college and career-ready terrain. For example, few students who dream of becoming a scientist, doctor or engineer know they need to take algebra by 8th grade in order to have time to in high school for other college prep courses plus a well-rounded retinue of arts and other classes. Helping students turn college dreams into reality requires a team approach by schools, families and guidance programs.

Support does not end once students are in college. Especially for students who are the first in their families to attend college, helping them navigate the rigors of college coursework, financial aid and campus life is critical. An analysis of U.S. Department of Education data by the Associated Press found that graduation rates at historically black colleges have fallen over the last five years. The aggregate national rate was around 33.7 percent in 2011, according to the AP analysis. The overall national college graduation rate average is about 58 percent. Improvement is needed all around.

Wireless phone tracking is far too easy

Mon, 20 May 2013 10:31:04 PDT

The need to update the Electronic Communications Privacy Act to the 21st Century, as the editorial board argued Sunday, is heightened by the willingness by wireless companies to turn over your phone records without a warrant.

A recent nationwide project by the American Civil Liberties Union found law enforcement routinely get geo-location data for cell phones from wireless companies without a warrant. As the ACLU points out, it is incongruous that police must get a warrant to put a GPS device on your car, but can track your cell phone's movement without even showing probable cause to a judge.

I first came across this issue reporting on the 2009 manhunt for Maurice Clemmons, who killed four Lakewood police officers. In our book, The Other Side of Mercy, my colleague Ken Armstrong and I learned that detectives were trying to track him via cell phone pings. Officers were camped out in Renton just hours after the shooting because a cell phone linked to Clemmons pinged in the neighborhood. Police were very leery about us reporting those details because cell phone pings, they believed, were a secret weapon.

Not so much, it turns out. Wired reported that Sprint Nextel alone received 8 million request for cell phone pings, a volume so high they created a back-door web portal for police.

But wireless companies - squeezed between an outdated federal law, non-stop requests from law enforcement and customers' expectations of privacy - are sacrificing their customers' privacy. The pickle is one reason that wireless firms - including Sprint, in this letter to Rep. Ed Markey, a privacy advocate - want ECPA updated.

U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder agreed, sort of, under questioning by Rep. Suzan DelBene, D-Medina. Notice that Holder doesn't know what to say at first, until an aide slips him a briefing paper. Here's the C-SPAN link.

Kenneth Bae: Get him out, but also watch where you are

Mon, 20 May 2013 10:05:50 PDT

A sentence of 15 years' hard labor for American Kenneth Bae is totally disproportionate and inhumane for anything the man may have done. But probably he did do something not too smart for an American in North Korea.

I have done some not-smart things myself in places like that. In 1972, traveling in the Socialist Republic of Romania, I gave the book, “Seven Days in May” to a man who approached me in a public gardens.

“Is it a political book?” he said.

“Naw,” I said. “Just a novel. About some generals who try to overthrow the government.”

“That’s political,” he said, stuffing the book in his coat.

I felt a thrill doing that. It was a tiny act of subversion against the government of Nicolae Ceaușescu. It was also a risk, but I was willing. My blue passport would protect me.

I wasn’t caught. But other Westerners have taken greater risks and had lesser luck. Consider these four cases, all from 2009:

• In the military-ruled Republic of the Union of Myanmar, American John Yettaw swam across a lake to impose himself on Nobel laureate Aung San Suu Kyi, who was under house arrest, and to present her with the Book of Mormon. His act added to her sentence. And for entering a restricted zone, staying overnight without notifying police and “illegal swimming,” Yettaw was sentenced to seven years in prison. The regime released him three months later after a diplomatic mission by Sen. Jim Webb, D-Va.

• In the Islamic Republic of Iran, guards on the border with Iraq arrested Americans Sarah Shourd, Shane Bauer and Joshua Fattal, who said they had been on a hike(!). Iran accused them of being spies. It released Shourd after 18 months and the men after 26 months. Each release required the payment of ransom.

• In the Kingdom of Thailand, Australian Harry Nicolaides was arrested because his 2005 novel, “Versimilitude,” which was self-published and reportedly sold only seven copies, contained an insult to the king. Nicolaides had lived in Thailand and knew of the law about insulting the king, but said he thought it didn’t apply to him. He was sentenced to three years. Australia’s government got him out in five months.

• In the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea, border guards seized American TV journalists Euna Lee and Laura Ling, who had crossed briefly from China and turned back. North Korea sentenced the women to 12 years’ hard labor for their territorial infraction, and released them five months later after a visit by former President Bill Clinton.

And now Kenneth Bae, tour operator and missionary Christian. His captors say he “collected and produced several anti-DPRK videos … and showed them [to] many people in a bid to egg them onto activities to bring down the DPRK government...”

Imagine that: a tour operator bringing down the communist monarchy of Kim Jong-un. And he was also reported taking pictures of starving children.

For all the fanciful exaggeration of the charges against him, Bae is in a serious fix. North Korea is the most paranoid government on the planet. And Bae is ethnically Korean. Note that his captors use his Korean name, Pae Jun Ho. To them, he is one of theirs.

But he is an American, and our government needs to get him out of there. A diplomatic rescue is, however, going to cost something, and more than money.

I am reminded of hikers who get lost in the mountains and are rescued at public expense. I am glad when they are found, and that the capacity exists to find them. But I also recall the warnings that people who go to dangerous places should keep in mind where they are.

Seattle, the newlyweds' city? Forget it

Mon, 20 May 2013 10:10:13 PDT

The apartment-hunter web page Rent.com sent me an email saying it “has compiled a list of the 10 best cities for newlyweds—and Seattle made the cut!”

I thought, “You’ve gotta be kidding. In super-singles Seattle? In high-rent Seattle?”

I read on: “This list is based on the number of married couples, families with children under six (since many newlyweds are putting down roots for a future family), mean annual income, cost of living, and rental availability in each city.”

Regarding Seattle, it said:

“Seattle, WA – With an above average mean income, the highest percentage of any city on our list with children under six years old, and also having recently legalized same-sex marriage, Seattle is definitely a place for ALL newlyweds to check out.”

Gay marriage, yes. Higher than average incomes, yes, though not close to the highest on the list. The high-roller places were Washington, D.C., and San Jose.

But the line that caught my eye was the one about “the highest percentage of any city on our list with children under six years old.” I thought, “no way.”

I took the question to King County government’s demographer, Chandler Felt. He noted that in the small print, the claim was for the Seattle metro area, which includes all of King, Pierce and Snohomish counties. He also noted that the census information is for children under five, not six.

Felt wrote:

“I looked at 2010 Census results for these 10 metro areas [Seattle, San Jose, San Diego, Minneapolis, Tulsa, Dallas, Houston, Charlotte, Raleigh and Washington, D.C.] The Seattle-Tacoma metro area has the lowest percentage of kids under 5 on the entire list.”

Well. And how about the claim that we have a high percentage of married people? Nope. “On that list, we’re tied with Charlotte for the lowest percentage of married-couple households, and we have the highest percentage single people living alone,” Felt said.

As for low rents: Try Tulsa.

Seattle gives big!

Fri, 17 May 2013 15:31:08 PDT

The totals are in and the Seattle Foundation reports a 50 percent jump in contributions from its single-day online fundraising event, GiveBig. The May 15th campaign brought in $11.1 million in online contributions. We encouraged Seattleites to give big in this editorial. Time to cheer the 54,500 who dug deep in their pockets and did so.

Seattle has one of the largest nonprofit communities in the nation. More than 1,400 participated in the social media-fueled philanthropy marathon. A Times op-ed questioned whether GiveBig is getting, well, too big. A fair question, but one that does not detract from the power of the annual campaign.

The money will be put to good use. At the Martinez Foundation, launched by retired Seattle Mariners slugger Edgar Martinez and his wife, Holli, the $64,000 raised will help support minorities who want to become teachers and provide current minority teachers with critical supports. Research points to a link between teacher diversity and minority-student achievement.

The $15,000 raised by Reel Grrls, will bolster the media and technology-training program's efforts working with girls ages 9 to 19. GiveBig gave a huge boost to educational programs, for example, the Technology Access Foundation which operates a school in the Federal Way School District emphasizing science, technology, engineering and math.

Here's some interesting facts from this week's GiveBig campaign: The five nonprofits receiving the most money were: Planned Parenthood of the Great Northwest ($220,120); The Seattle Public Library Foundation ($194,012); Northwest Harvest ($176,324); Edmonds Center for the Arts ($164,321), and The 5th Avenue Theatre ($159,915).

This region is driven by technology and a generous populace. Kudos to the Seattle Foundation for joining the two in a successful fundraising campaign.