Andy Boyer

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Category: Politics (Page 4 of 7)

But What is his High Score on iPhone Bowling?

October 3, 2008 /

Adotas brings us word that Barack Obama is bringing his presidential campaign to the coolest phone (and presumably most influential trendsetters) on the planet,  releasing an iPhone app that will enable supporters to easily reach out to friends and remind them to vote for their favorite candidate.

According ot the story, the app,  “Call Friends,” organizes the user’s phonebook by state and gives each contact a status (called or not called).  You can also use the app to find out where he stands on issues – and of course – enables people to donate to the campaign. 

I will tell you one thing.  I wouldn’t  trust a lot of politicians to run a company’s mail room, but if Obama doesn’t become President, he would certainly be a heck of a CMO.   

Politics You Can Actually Affect – Act Now

September 30, 2008 /

Let’s be honest.  None of us know enough about Macro-economics to know if $700 Billion to make sure Wall Street doesn’t collapse is a good idea in the long run.  It’s just too complicated for us, and our voice is one of millions, unlikely to be heard.

But we can affect stupid decisions at home.  When the Sonics were abandoned by the Seattle City Council, I started subscribing to email lists from Council members.  I wanted to believe that they couldn’t really be as clueless and inept as they had been portrayed in the media.

Usually the email newsletters make me do nothing more than chuckle and be happy that these people are not in charge of building airplanes or elevators.  But Nick Licata can sometimes make me do something rash, like run to AndyBoyer.com and vent.

From this week’s newsletter: 

Time:           6:00-8:30   Doors open at 6pm with refreshments, presentation begins at 6:30pm 

Location:    Bertha Knight Landes Room, City Hall, 4th Ave and James

Date:           Monday, October 6

Presentation by Council Member Nick Licata

Councilmember Licata proposes redirecting a $43 million bond allocated to the Mercer Project to building new sidewalks in Seattle, funding the recommendations of the Bicycle Master Plan, Pedestrian Master Plan, and providing a long-term capital program for meeting our freight mobility needs.  

Reply to Presentation by SDOT:  The Seattle Dept of Transportation (SDOT) has been invited to explain why the Mercer Corridor Project is needed and the $43 million should be spent on creating a two-way Mercer Street and a narrowed Valley Street.

(Editor’s insertion: The Mercer Project is the one where they are widening Mercer Avenue into a two way avenue, so it’s easier to get on and off I-5 when leaving downtown, the Space Needle, Eastlake or Westlake.

Summary: Nick Licata wants to stop funding that I believe has already been approved, for construction on a road that will alleviate traffic, in order to build sidewalks and bike lanes.  Please people, it’s time we moved this guy back to another commune where he can cause less havoc to our lives.  I think it’s great that he wants a society where we can bike and walk everywhere – and maybe he should go build that society in Cle Elum, not a place where we all have cars and jobs.  

You can’t affect a $700 Billion bailout, but you can affect your commute home.  Let’s all start paying attention to what these guys are doing with your local tax dollar.

 

No Gas, Really

September 26, 2008 /

Way up here in the top left corner of the map, we tend to get a little isolationist in nature. Lots of people in Seattle never actually LEAVE Seattle for any length of time, and I have been personally shocked by how many people I meet here who have never ben to New York or Washington DC. Because of this, Seattleites tend to have a pretty narrow look at how the country works.

And with that soliloquy to set the context, I bring you a report from Charlotte, NC from the the Mid-Atlantic Regional Headquarters of Andy Boyer.com:

Wednesday evening I drove home from work looking for gas. I went to 22 gas stations and they were all out of gas. Yesterday morning I was waiting in line at a Shell station for 45 minutes. I was 5 cars away from getting on the property when they ran out of gas. I had abobut 1/8 of a tank left at that point. I found a Texaco station that around 50 cars waiting in line for gas. I waited for about another 45 minutes and was able to get gas.

About 10% of gas stations here in the Charlotte are have gas this morning. They are expecting to be back up to full capacity this weekend.

You may think you are having a bad day today because you have to replace your WAMU ATM card. Well, remind yourself of the good things you have going on while you fill up your tank at any of the gas stations here that you can stroll right into…..

PETA Opens Its Mouth, and a Few More Independents Take a Small Step to the Right…

September 24, 2008 /

You have to wonder what the people at PETA are thinking when they have “brainstorming” sessions.  It’s like they purposely come up with ways to alienate anyone in the middle 98% of mainstream thought.   From WNBC in New York:

VERMONT — People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals sent a letter to Ben Cohen and Jerry Greenfield, cofounders of Ben & Jerry’s Homemade Inc., urging them to replace cow’s milk they use in their ice cream products with human breast milk, according to a statement recently released by a PETA spokeswoman.

“PETA’s request comes in the wake of news reports that a Swiss restaurant owner will begin purchasing breast milk from nursing mothers and substituting breast milk for 75 percent of the cow’s milk in the food he serves,” the statement says.

PETA officials say a move to human breast milk would lessen the suffering of dairy cows and their babies on factory farms and benefit human health.

You may now insert your own jokes and analysis.

This Negative Election Has Finally Defeated Me

September 17, 2008 /

Well, it’s happened.  What started as a fantastic 17 person Presidential race, with people sharing new ideas for how to run the country, has turned into a giant mud-slinging session that has left me dis-spirited and ready to move to Croatia to open a coffee stand.

What happnened to this race? We had Bill Richardson’s immigration ideas, Obama’s unifying rallies and Hillary’s messages energizing women.  Giulani and Thompson added star power, Romney was the clean cut businessman with the ability to run the Olympics and a state, while McCain the Maverick was driving the Straight Talk Express.  Even Ron Paul, who people labeled as crazy, at least had an interesting Flat Tax Plan.  Real candidates with real ideas.  

But now, I can’t watch TV or listen to the radio without hearing barking, shrieking, sarcasm and disdain.  No one has any ideas, and everyone has a criticism.  Olberman and Chris Matthews take turns firing shots at Republicans in hopes Obama will dance with them first at the inauguration.  Conservative journalists rail on Obama’s 143 days in US Senate as being unfit to lead.  Media members sitting on the left side of the bench use big words and smarmy sarcasm to imply that anyone who doesn’t agree with them 100% is stupid.  Those on the right  scoff at people and make it clear that anyone who doesn’t know how to climb into the middle class is just useless.

Our whole country is attacking each other and every campaign message is about hate – McCain is too old., Obama too green.  McCain lies, Obama exagerates.  Biden is mean, Palin is crazy.  Then everything that happens must be assigned to someone.  The Financial situation is Bush’s fault, no McCain signed a bill in 1999 that caused this, no Obama’s liberal policies would make it worse, etc…Gas is expensive because we’re in Iraq, no because Democrats won’t let us drill, no because Republicans are beholden to lobbyists in the oil industry….

I’ve been beaten.  The candidates’, pundits’, advisors’ and supporters’  combined message has finally sunk in.  According to what I am hearing from everyone, “Collectively we’re screwed, it’s someone else’s fault, and we’re really going to be screwed worse if you vote for the other guy.”  That’s the message I am getting – please tell me I’m hearing it wrong.  Plus, none of them are explaining to me that they can fix it, they are just explaining to me that the other group can’t.  So I guess that’s the message. Take my money out of the stock market and run.

Oops – too late for that too….Now what?

Meanwhile, we think the athletes are real

August 12, 2008 /

So what have we learned about China so far thanks to year’s Olympics.  Well, let’s start with some nuggets from a British paper, The Times of London, in this article.

Let’s set aside all the pre-Olympics Tom Foolery of throwing out journalists, censoring Internet sites, jailing a Japanese television crew in West China, shutting down factories, and trying to magically make the pollution go away.

But in the first week of this Games, we have:

  • Fake fireworks so the TV audience thinks they are seeing something spectacular
  • Lip-syncing of the opening song by a cute 7-year old Chinese girl, because the 7 year old girl who really sang it wans’t “cute” enough.
  • Oscar-style “seat fillers” who sit and watch the preliminary rounds of events, then leave when the ticket holders show up, so it doesn’t look like there are any no-shows.

I’m not exactly sure this is what drove the spirit of the games more than 100 years ago.  So if the games themselves can be fake and manufactured, tell me again why the athletes aren’t allowed to use drugs that enhance their own performance?  Don’t sterioids seem to fit perfectly into this charade?

Rossi vs Gregoire Radio Ad War Begins

July 11, 2008 /

I love political season.  Nothing better than a good old fashion radio ad war being waged by people who don’t normally write radio ads.  Today on KJR, I heard what may have been the funniest 20 minutes of political radio the all-sports station has ever run. 

1) At about 8:20am, Steve Sandmeyer interviews Dino Rossi.  In the 10 minute interview, Rossi addresses the issue KJR listeners care about most, mainly the Legislature’s inability to make any kind of decision on the Sonics situation.  Rossi restated his previous positions, that all Gregoire and the Legislature had to do was AUTHORIZE King County to extend the current tax that tourists pay on rental cars, hotels, etc…past 2011 when it currently expires.  They didn’t have to vote to extend the tax, they had to vote to authorize King County to vote for the tax.  Rossi continued by saying that he knew it was a political hot potato, so to make sure Gregoire wouldn’t take a fall, he publicly endorsed it before her. That way she could endorse it without him being able to use it against her.  Then he got a nice jab in by calling Frank Chopp the “pseudo-governor” and that Gregoire is too afraid to do anything without his approval.  Score multiple points for Rossi.

2) Interview ends at 8:30 or so, and in the next commercial break, you get a response ad from Team Gregoire.  Basic text of the ad – “Rossi is like George Bush because he cut back on child protection services, is anti-abortion, votes against gay marriage and cut transportation funding.  See, he’s just like George Bush.  And did we mention he is like George Bush?  So, you obviously don’t want George Bush.  Paid for by friends of Gregoire.”  Gay marriage and abortion rights?  The Sonics have just been ripped from the city, fans blame you for this, and 8 days later you run an ad telling sports fans that Rossi is against abortion rights?  Really?  That’s the most compelling argument you have to make to sports fans feeling pain?

3) 10 minutes later, you hear a Rossi ad that has been playing a while. The ad quotes the Seattle Times, “Gregoire showed the leadership skills of a rookie Point Guard.” The ads also says that when Gregoire had a chance to do something extraordinary, she chose to sit on the bench.  Ouch.  Ouch again.  Score more points for Rossi.

4) As if this wasn’t enough, the Gregoire campaign found it necessary to run the same ineffective ad a second time 10 minutes later.  I guess they really wanted Sonics fans to know that Dino Rossi is anti-abortion.  It’s like walking into Capitol Hill and talking about policy on shipping tariffs.  Or going to the Apple farmers to discuss H1B visas.

The KJR vote is going to Rossi.  So I’m not sure Gregoire’s play here.  She either has to be loud and vocal about pushing through the new stadium legislation this session, or just ignore those voters and spend money somewhere else.  But if I won ana election by 2,000 votes, and an entire segment of people who never vote just learned how to register, I’d be nervous.  

Limiting Congress’ Right To Speak Online? This Can’t Possibly be True

July 9, 2008 /

Ok, this link comes from Slashdot.  Reputable source, but one of those things that you read, then read aloud, then re-read to make sure you really understand it, and then finally mutter to yourself, and think about how much money you have in the bank and which island you could survive in with that amount of money. 

This report can’t possibly be true.  It must be some sort of misinterpretation.  But here’s a synopsis, along with the full report:

Democratic House Speaker Nancy Pelosi….. is scheming to impose rules barring any member of Congress from posting opinions on any internet site without first obtaining prior approval from the Democratic leadership of Congress. No blogs, twitter, online forums – nothing.

Someone tell me this is all a mistake.

5 (or so) Reasons Everyone Should Attend Monday’s Sonics Rally

June 12, 2008 /

This Monday at 4:30pm, the Save Our Sonics Organization is hosting a rally on the courthouse steps  (700 Stewart St., Seattle). Sonics legends Gary Payton and Xavier McDaniel are confirmed to attend and speak at 4:30 pm. Other Sonics Legends have been invited and are expected to appear.

Now whether you are a die-hard fan, casual observer or don’t even care and just live and work in Seattle, here are 5 (or 7) reasons you should show support.

  1. For the first time ever, a city and state did not bow down to a league that demanded a new tax-payer funded stadium.  You should show that a league should not punish a city for this appropriate action.
  2. Over 41 years, more than 20,000,000 people have watched Sonics games in person.  That’s a piece of history that should stay – and I bet it’s more than have watched the symphony, opera and ballet combined.
  3. You cannot idly sit by and watch an Oklahoma Oil Baron (who is also a Republican) come rob the eco-friendly Pacific Northwest of one of its assets.
  4. At least some of your friends care about this, so you should support them.  They contribute to your Sierra Club, Humane Society and kid’s school’s auctions.  This doesn’t even cost you anything.
  5. It’s happy hour in Seattle – what an excuse to kill an hour off your work day on a Monday?  
  6. David Stern is proving to be an arrogant, very bad man.  Don’t let him get away with this without Seattle making some noise.
  7. There’s about a 1% chance the team survives.  If that miracle occurs, 34 years from now on the Sonics 75th anniversary, don’t you want to tell your grand-kids, "I was at the rally that proved to be the turning point."

 Get there – do your part.  Make it a huge rally that gets on the national news. 

Should We Revisit the Seattle Monorail

June 10, 2008 /

A few years ago, we had this crazy idea to build a monorail, that would start in downtown and brtanch out to two of Seattle’s far flung neighborhoods, Ballard and Seattle.

By most accounts, the whole plan was run by the guys who drive clown cars, and the money guys needed an abacus to count sea shells on the beach.  It was the little engine that couldn’t even though all of us have spent about $1500 in taxes for the train that never ran.

But is it time to dust off the powerpoint, and re-run the Excel spreadsheet with new numbers?  Interest rates have never been lower, so the money would be cheaper.  Gas prices have never been hire, but will be tomorrow (and the day after, and the day after that, etc…), so you can assume ridership will skyrocket.   And now we have a real crisis, and you see how civic leaders (i.e. Steve Ballmer) suddenly appear in times of crisis.

Sometimes great ideas have terrible execution, or poor timing, and all it takes is a different team on a diferent day to turn a dud into nirvana.  Think the Smarte Car, which 25 years ago was a dog called the Yugo.  Or the iPod, which in 1997 was a dorky thing called Diamond Rio.  The Newton never made it, but pieces of it came back into every PDA sold from 2003-2007. 

So, what do you think?  Why not revisit this whole monorail thing, with a new team driving the project? 

 

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