MetaFilter posts tagged with Washington

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Groundhog Week — Thu, 13 Jun 2013 07:40:00 -0800

An open letter to Dan Snyder (Owner of the Washington Professional Football Team). Earlier this month, 10 members of Congress wrote a letter to NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell. Commissioner Goodell responded that "Redskins" is a "a unifying force that stands for strength, courage, pride and respect." Owner Dan Snyder responded that there will be no changes.

Ana Montes: Civil Servant, Cuban Spy

Kadin2048 — Tue, 04 Jun 2013 17:45:31 -0800

In the days following 9/11, knowing they would soon have time for little other than anti-terrorism activities, FBI agents arrested Ana Montes, a Defense Intelligence Agency (DIA) analyst later convicted of espionage for spying on behalf of the Cuban government. Over the course of her "meteoric career" she became the agency's lead analyst for Cuban military affairs, despite having been recruited as an agent before even applying for the DIA post. Unlike well-known modern day spies Robert Hanssen and Aldrich Ames, who offered their services to the USSR in exchange for cash and began spying only after obtaining sensitive positions within the FBI and CIA respectively, Montes was politically motivated, obtaining her position at the DIA after and apparently as a result of being recruited by Cuban intelligence in graduate school. Her methods were basic: she received her orders from Cuba via shortwave radio "numbers stations" and water-soluble decryption pads, and passed information that she painstakingly memorized at work and typed out at home to handlers via meetings at DC-area Chinese restaurants. But they were effective: despite numerous security clearance screenings, suspicious coworkers, and at least one polygraph test, she received both a certificate of commendation from CIA Director George Tenet and a medal of commendation from the Cuban government. Although the FBI was attempting to build a case for treason against her prior to 9/11, which could have carried the death penalty (and, if convicted, would have made her only the third woman to be so convicted in US history), she pleaded guilty to the lesser charge of espionage in exchange for a 25-year sentence. She is due to be released in 2023. via Longform.org

Lawsuit(s) in Washington anti-discrimination case

roomthreeseventeen — Thu, 11 Apr 2013 06:48:39 -0800

The state of Washington has filed suit against Arlene's Flowers, whose owner, Barronelle Stutzman, refused to provide flowers for the wedding of regular customers Robert Ingersoll and Curt Freed. The case is set to emerge as the first major test of anti-discrimination protections since Washington State voters legalized same-sex marriage last fall. Ingersoll and Freed (through their attorneys, in coordination with the ACLU) sent a letter to the florist shop yesterday, saying she has two options: (1) She can vow to never again discriminate in her services for gay people, write an apology letter to be published in the Tri-City Herald, and contribute $5,000 to a local LGBT youth center, or (2) she can get sued a second time for violating the Washington State Civil Rights Act. Stutzman's lawyers argue that she is entitled to exercise her religious convictions and that arranging flowers is an act of personal expression; any demands or limitations on those expressive flower arrangements is a violation of right to free speech.

More than just his little wife

girlmightlive — Thu, 21 Mar 2013 20:04:29 -0800

People have something to say about Mrs. Carter's new song. "Women do not have to be humble, nice, and modest all the damn time," says Sesali Bowen of Feministing. "Beyonce's new single marks a change in direction for the independent woman the US president handpicks to play at his parties," says Rush Limbaugh. The song "dangerously [straddles] the line between female empowerment and subjugation," says Rahiel Tesfamariam of the Washington Post. "We should view Beyonce's feminism as complex," says Akoto Ofori-Atta of The Root. Can a woman who sings "girls run the world" and "bow down, bitches" be a feminist? Read the lyrics here.

"As the hymn says, you can lay your burden down."

zarq — Fri, 15 Mar 2013 07:36:49 -0800

The Things They Leave Behind. "When the Vietnam Veterans Memorial opened 30 years ago, something unexpected happened: People started leaving things at the wall. One veteran has spent decades cataloging the letters, mementos, and other artifacts of loss — all 400,000 of them." (Via.) Website: The National Park Service Museum Resource Center. CSPAN Video: "Bob Sonderman, director of the Museum Resource Center, gave a tour of the football field-sized warehouse which houses roughly 2.5 million archaeological objects from National Park locations in the District of Columbia, Maryland, Virginia, and West Virginia." (2/11)

"But what is the sane response to an insane situation?"

the man of twists and turns — Sat, 26 Jan 2013 04:23:30 -0800

My So-Called Stalker The So-Called Stalker Turns Himself In Following The Stalker His Day In Court Plea Disagreement

Good news from Washington State

ivan ivanych samovar — Thu, 06 Dec 2012 16:48:44 -0800

Paul Harris is the head of the Marriage License Department for Clark County, in the American state of Washington. Today, after 40 years with the same man, he can finally apply for his own marriage license. They're getting married on Monday, the first day it's legal. You can also hear Paul talking in this podcast from OPB (near the beginning).

Pulitzer Nominations Are Open

HotPants — Wed, 28 Nov 2012 20:08:24 -0800

Two alligators, a pole dancer and pot at Olympia area shooting scene [via Wonkette]

Passing a joint resolution

twoleftfeet — Thu, 08 Nov 2012 20:09:19 -0800

Voters have made marijuana legal in Colorado and Washington. But what does this mean? Teasing out the subtleties of Washington State's Initiative 502 and Colorado's Amendment 64 will take some time. Here are some clues...

Marijuana has been immediately decriminalized in Seattle.

The Governor of Colorado is dissuading people from the hasty consumption of Cheetos.

The Federal Government, in the form of the Department of Justice, has no additional comment

The Governor of Washington State is not taking calls from the Department of Justice.

The legislation has troubled bankers, and further legalization could damage the profits of drug cartels by 30%

... which really should be pronounced "fra" and not "pra."

librarina — Wed, 07 Nov 2012 18:50:00 -0800

RIP Bob Quinn. If you've spent any time at the University of Washington, you'll likely recognize him as the guy who wandered, with his well-behaved off-leash dog, up and down the Ave, spending all day at various coffee shops and bookstores. Or if you were using heroin or were otherwise at high risk for HIV in North Seattle anytime between the 1980s and now, you likely recognize him because he may have saved your life. Quinn started handing out clean needles and condoms on the Ave the 1980s as a response to the AIDS epidemic. "The exchange in many ways was just a gut reaction. It was an emergency, something had to be done and so I did it," he said. "I didn’t think of the consequences or whether it was right or wrong. It needed to be done and I did what I had to do." His informal table in front of the old Tower Records has since morphed into the People's Harm Reduction Alliance, a needle distribution program that will bring needles to you anywhere in King County, and also offers Hepatitis C testing, vein care, and an all-women staff on Tuesdays. According to reports, he attempted suicide last week, and died at the hospital several days later.

¿Sí Se Puede?

Rhaomi — Wed, 07 Nov 2012 07:34:35 -0800

The November 6th elections saw a lot of historic decisions made in the United States -- the first black president re-elected, marijuana legalized for the first time in two states, gay marriage affirmed by the voters in four, and even the first openly gay senator. But perhaps the most underreported result yesterday came from outside the country altogether: in the commonwealth of Puerto Rico, a solid majority voted to reject the island's current status and join America as the long-fabled 51st state. How the bid might fare in Congress is an open question, but both President Obama and Republican leaders have vowed support for the statehood movement if it proves successful at the ballot box (while D.C. officials ponder a two-fer gambit to grease the wheels). Though it would be the poorest state, joining the Union might bring economic benefits to both sides [PDF]. And politically, some argue the island might prove to be a reliably red state, despite the Hispanic population, although arch-conservative governor and Romney ally Luis Fortuño appears headed toward a narrow loss. But the most important question here, as always, is: how to redesign the flag? (Puerto Rican statehood discussed previously.)

"completely separate from the journalism functions of the newspaper"

scaryblackdeath — Fri, 19 Oct 2012 09:40:27 -0800

The Seattle Times will run campaign ads supporting Washington Republican gubernatorial candidate Rob McKenna and the state's pro-same sex marriage measure Referendum-74, paid for by the Seattle Times Co..

Pertussis Epidemic — Washington, 2012

Blasdelb — Thu, 27 Sep 2012 03:08:08 -0800

Since mid-2011, a substantial rise in pertussis [Whooping Cough] cases has been reported in the state of Washington. In response to this increase, the Washington State Secretary of Health declared a pertussis epidemic on April 3, 2012. By June 16, the reported number of cases in Washington in 2012 had reached 2,520 (37.5 cases per 100,000 residents), a 1,300% increase compared with the same period in 2011 and the highest number of cases reported in any year since 1942 [Make sure you don't miss Figure 1]. Commentators are already drawing corellations with the fact that Washington State leads the nation in vaccine non-compliance, Washington State's recent cutbacks in public health funding, and increases in the number of uninsured (PDF). Valid vaccination history was available for 1,829 of 2,006 (91.2%) patients aged 3 months–19 years. Overall, 758 of 1,000 (75.8%) patients aged 3 months–10 years were up-to-date with the childhood diphtheria and tetanus toxoids and acellular pertussis (DTaP) doses. Receipt of Tdap was documented in 97 of 225 (43.1%) patients aged 11–12 years and in 466 of 604 (77.2%) patients aged 13–19 years. Estimated DTaP coverage in Washington among children aged 19–35 months was 93.2% for ≥3 doses and 81.9% for ≥4 doses in 2010; Tdap coverage in adolescents aged 13–17 years was estimated at 70.6%* This means that while vaccination still provides individual protection - with unvaccinated children being eight times more likely to get whooping cough and, when they do, become more infectious, have stronger symptoms, are sick longer and are at greater risk of severe outcomes, including hospitalization - communal failures to vaccinate have allowed gaps in herd immunity to expose vaccinated children to more pertussis than the vaccine can provide absolute protection against while also simultaneously breeding vaccine resistant strains. Here is disturbing footage of what pertussis looks like in 12 week old and 6 month old babies, as well as various children, whooping cough is back.

“[I] am a serving officer in the Iraqi Special Forces,” he said. “We don’t wear underwear.”

These Premises Are Alarmed — Fri, 06 Jul 2012 07:47:53 -0800

The Worst Marriage in Georgetown

The "Unstoppable Gay Jew"

zarq — Thu, 07 Jun 2012 18:30:03 -0800

In 1971, "decades before any state had seriously considered legalizing gay marriage, long before anyone had thought of creating—never mind repealing—a policy called “Don’t Ask Don’t Tell,” before Reagan, before AIDS, before the American Psychiatric Association determined that homosexuality was not a mental illness, and before half the people currently living in America were even born, a man named John Singer stepped into the King County marriage license office in Seattle." Meet Faygele ben Miriam, the radical activist who pioneered the fight for same-sex marriage in Washington State, 41 years ago. Via.

The Red Flag in the Flowerpot

peacay — Sun, 29 Apr 2012 23:40:56 -0800

The Red Flag in the Flowerpot - "Four decades after Watergate, there’s something that still nags at Ben Bradlee about Deep Throat."

"Did that potted [plant] incident ever happen? … and meeting in some garage. One meeting in the garage? Fifty meetings in the garage? I don’t know how many meetings in the garage … There’s a residual fear in my soul that that isn’t quite straight." [BB, 1990]

National anthem on an electric violin made out of a bat

escabeche — Fri, 27 Apr 2012 18:00:16 -0800

If you were watching the Orioles-A's game from Camden Yards tonight, you saw a guy playing the National Anthem on an electric violin made out of a baseball bat. This is how that looks and sounds. This is the guy talking about and showing off his Louisville Slugger violin. And this is the Washington Post profile of Glenn Donnellan, a violinist with the National Symphony Orchestra and the maker and player of the world's only electric baseball bat violin.

KUOW, KCMU and KEXP: a brief history of college(type) radio from University of Washington

filthy light thief — Wed, 28 Mar 2012 13:10:04 -0800

KEXP 90.3 FM is a Seattle, WA-based radio station, officially "a service of University of Washington," but it's more complex than that. The first University of Washington radio station started broadcasting in 1952. Five decades, a few station organizational shifts, plus three call letter and frequency changes later, KEXP was (re)born in 2001. Along the way, the station spread the sound of 1990s Seattle indie rock, started streaming "CD quality" MP3 audio of their broadcast in 2000, and they have an ever-growing collection of recordings of live in-station performances, including over 2,000 videos on YouTube. The University of Washington's first radio station was KUOW, which started broadcasting at 90.5 FM. Six years later, Dorothy Bullitt Stimson moved KING FM to 98.1 FM, giving 94.9 to Edison Vocational School, the first public vocational school in the state of Washington. That year, KUOW started using Edison's transmitter, moving the station out of the non-commercial educational "reserved band" (88.1~91.9). In the 1960s, the station shifted from classical music, local news, school sports, and classroom lectures to include more news programming and student involvement. The station was one of 90 charter member stations of NPR in 1970. Two years later, four undergrads built a new station from the ground up, with limited funding and space provided by the School of Communications. KCMU FM 90.5 started in 1972 as a 10-watt transmitter, boosted to 182 watts in 1975. The University faced budget cuts in the years to come, and in 1981 the university's broadcasting program was cut, along with much funding for KCMU. Listeners donated $28,000 to keep KCMU on the air. Later that year, KOUW assisted KCMU by providing an engineer and an accountant to help run the station. The station bloomed in the 1980s, continuing to cover unsigned, local bands. In 1986, the station moved down the dial from 90.5 to 90.3, and increased to 404 watts, reaching out 15 miles. That same year, there was a week-long series of shows at the Rainbow Tavern to benefit KCMU, as recalled in Mudhoney's Green River Tourbook. Some of those shows were recorded and broadcast on local TV, and are now online: Feast at KCMU Benefit 6/7/86 (1:03), Soundgarden at The Rainbow Tavern (4:37), and Soundgarden at The Central (5:21). The list of KCMU volunteers in the late '80s (most of whom were students) reads like a who's who of the Seattle music industry in the '90s, including musicians, journalists, and label heads. A music director from the station, Faith Henschel, put together a tape of unsigned bands that she thought were over-looked, and sent them to labels small and large. Bands That Will Make Money got Soundgarden signed to A&M. (Another tangent: Kenny G attended UW in the 1970s, but he graduated with a B.A. in accounting). The station shifted directions again in the 1990s, moving away from volunteer DJs and to syndicated programming, rising the ire of some DJs and listeners. The focus for many was World Cafe, a program produced by WXPN (a non-commercial station licensed to the University of Pennsylvania), and distributed by NPR. Listeners asked why local diversity was being replaced by adult-contemporary programming from Philadelphia. Up to 1992, KCMU was a "community radio station," and CURSE (Censorship Undermines Radio Station Ethics), an activist group comprised primarily of volunteers and listeners, wanted the station back to the way it was. A no-criticism policy was instated, and volunteers who voiced criticism on- or off-air were fired. CURSE had that policy struck down by the U.S. District Court, but there were more changes to come. The KCMU News Hour was cut from the station, moving all news programming to KUOW. The last volunteer DJs were fired from KCMU in 1997. In 1999, the University's Computing & Communications (C&C) department (now UW Technology) took ownership of KCMU, allowing the station to be used to test new internet technologies for broadcasting, such as uncompressed audio streaming of the station's broadcast (Windows Media stream), which started in 2000 (Google Quickview; PDF), along with Real Media and MP3 streams. In 2001, the KCMU was recalled KEXP, as the station partnered with the Experience Music Project (Google Quickview; original PDF; EMP previously). That same year, Rainy Dawg Radio started up, an online-only student-run station, the closest thing University of Washington students have to the KCMU of old. KEXP recorded and posted its live in-studio shows online from its beginning in April of 2001, and in 2005, the station started podcasting their in-studio shows (note: these recordings are currently available in Windows Media and Real Media only). The first was on July 21, 2005 with Boom Bap Project (Welcome to Seattle - NSFW lyrics- studio version of one of their live tracks). The station currently has five podcasted programs, along with a streaming archive of the last two weeks of shows. The newest addition to KEXP's online collection are its YouTube videos, including thousands of individual songs, and a handful of full, high definition sets, from James Mercer of The Shins, Grimes, Dr. Dog, Neon Indian, Alex Turner of Arctic Monkeys, Wooden Shjips, Gus Gus, Nosaj Thing, and Daedelus, to name a random few.

Teddy Wants You!

juliplease — Wed, 08 Feb 2012 20:42:19 -0800

You probably already know that mascots wearing over-sized caricature foam heads of the four Mount Rushmore presidents race around the bases during home games for the Washington Nationals. You also probably know that Teddy has never officially won a single race.

Did you know that if you are over 18, 5'7" to 6'6", can run from center field to home plate in 40 seconds, dig the costume, and are available for 35 home games in Washington, DC, that you can become one of them? Auditions are not open to the public, but anyone can send in their info to get an invitation. The deadline is this Friday. Represent, DC MeFites!

Marriage Equality in Washington State Takes the Next Step

0xFCAF — Thu, 02 Feb 2012 00:27:20 -0800

The Washington State Senate has approved SB 6239, a bill granting marriage equality, in a 28-21 vote. It now moves on to the House, where its passage is all but assured, then to the desk of Governor Gregoire, who started the process earlier this year and has promised to sign it.

But, then what? As in 2009, when citizens voted 53-47 in favor of Referendum 71 to reject overturning the legislature's domestic partnership bill, the bill will likely be subject to a citizen referendum, rendering it temporarily inactive until approved by popular vote. A recent poll found that 55% of voters would approve that measure. If that holds true, same-sex marriages could begin in Washington State starting December 7th, 2012.

Moving forward, coast to coast

roomthreeseventeen — Mon, 23 Jan 2012 13:24:59 -0800

On the same day that NJ governor Chris Christie announced that he has nominated an openly gay African-American Republican mayor to the state’s highest court, Washington state's legislature has announced that they have the votes to pass the same sex-marriage bill that the governor has already promised to sign. Washington will be the seventh state to have same sex marriages. And tomorrow, the New Jersey senate will take up discussion of the Marriage Equality and Religious Exemption Act. State Sen. Raymond Lesniak, one of the bill’s sponsors, estimated the chamber had between 24 and 27 supporters for legislation to allow for same-sex marriage in New Jersey. It takes 27 votes in the 40-member state senate to override a governor’s veto.

Marriage Equality in Washington State

alms — Wed, 04 Jan 2012 18:55:21 -0800

Governor Christine Gregoire announces her support for marriage equality in Washington State. "And let me just tell you, I feel so much better today than I have for the last seven years." (SLYT) Previously.

Messy. Crazy. Brilliant. Insane. Reporter.

zarq — Tue, 06 Dec 2011 08:41:51 -0800

How Do You Explain Gene Weingarten? (Via). Weingarten has been featured on Metafilter before, most notably for the two stories that won him Pulitzer Prizes, mentioned in the above profile: * Fatal Distraction: Article / Mefi Post * Pearls before Breakfast: Article / Mefi Post / MeTa Post. And for: * The Peekaboo Paradox: Article / Mefi Post * The Ghost of the Hardy Boys: Article / MeFi Post * The Car That Goes Whoosh: Article / MeFi Post "None of the Above" is mentioned at the end of the profile. A preview of the book "The Fiddler in the Subway," a collection of some of his better columns, is available at Google Books. Weingarten's humor column is Below the Beltway. He conducts a live, online chat (see transcripts at Chatological Humor) every Tuesday with Washington Post readers. The Barney and Clyde comic. Mother Jones (2010): Secrets of a Two-Time Pulitzer Winner.

Zimmerman Telegram 2.0?

Rhaomi — Tue, 11 Oct 2011 13:00:13 -0800

Following a months-long investigation, the Department of Justice has announced the existence of a well-funded plot "conceived, sponsored and directed" by "high-ranking members of the Iranian government" to assassinate Saudi Arabian ambassador Adel Al-Jubeir on U.S. soil in conjunction with informants in Mexican drug cartel Los Zetas. The "Hollywood" plot, revealed in an afternoon press conference and described in a detailed 21-page complaint [PDF], is alleged to have involved an attack on the Saudi and Israeli embassies in Washington, D.C. One suspect, naturalized American citizen Arbab Arbabsiar, has been arrested, while co-conspirator and Quds Force member Gholam Shakuri remains at large. Iranian officials were quick to label the charges a "fabrication" intended to distract from America's economic troubles.

It's like KittenWar for urban spaces

desjardins — Wed, 28 Sep 2011 13:51:21 -0800

Which place looks safer? Which place looks more unique? Which place looks more upper-class? MIT is crowdsourcing a "perception network" to analyze people's subconscious judgments about urban spaces. Preliminary results for Boston, New York City, Vienna, Salzburg, and Linz (Austria). Visual preference surveys are a common tool used by urban planners to gauge public interest in and desires for the aesthetic components of their neighborhood. This PDF is a good example of a summary report and shows the most/least desirable images from a study in Bellevue, Washington. This article from the Journal of the American Planning Association (PDF) goes into detail about how hierarchical models are used with visual surveys to improve the streetscape of an area.