Morning Fizz
A Reference to Ayn Rand
Caffeinated news and gossip. Your daily Morning Fizz.
1. Eighty-four-year-old longtime activist (and onetime mayoral candidate) Dorli Rainey, a priest, and a pregnant woman were among those pepper sprayed by police at a tense Occupy Seattle protest on Tuesday night.
Two hundred or so Occupy Seattle protesters marched down to Westlake Plaza from the group's current camp at Seattle Central Community College on Capitol Hill, apparently in a show of support for the Occupy protests in New York, Oakland, St. Louis, and Portland, which have faced crackdowns by police in the last week.
According to police, six people were arrested for assaulting officers or pedestrian interference during the protest: a 17-year-old girl who "swung a stick" at an officer; a man who allegedly assaulted an officer at 3rd Ave. and Wall St.; a teen who blocked traffic at 5th Ave. and Wall St.; a man and a woman who blocked traffic at 5th Ave. and Pine St.; and another man who threw an "unknown liquid" at an officer, a department statement said.
Just after 6:00 pm Tuesday, the protesters had arrived at Westlake Park with American flags and signs saying "Solidarity Occupy NYC." A long line of Seattle Police Department bike patrol officers herded the crowd—full of young men and women wearing gas masks and bandannas over their faces—onto the sidewalk, as riled-up protesters screamed that the cops were making "enemies."
The cops, who had just peppersprayed a half-dozen people, including the sympathetic protesters noted above, seemed relatively unfazed by the protesters' chants. When one man began shouting that the protest was moving to 4th and Pike, one bike officer turned to another and mock-whispered "Intel says they're moving to 4th and Pike."
Cops lined up at Westlake last night.
The lowlight of the night came when a self-described "professional investor" named David, dressed in a suit with slicked-back hair, began lecturing a group of protesters—including a woman in her early 20s, who described how she worked at Safeway and was underemployed—telling them, "I'm in the one-percent, I'm not like you."
He then asked the woman: "Who is John Galt?"—a reference to Ayn Rand's anti-socialist novel Atlas Shrugged .
A young man wearing a black 99-percent shirt responded, "Go take your tie somewhere else."
2. In other Occupy news: A member of the 43rd District Democrats put a resolution on the group's agenda last night to set aside $200 to support Occupy Seattle. Some members had planned to fight the proposal because they believe the Occupy movement is antagonistic to the Democratic Party. However, Ginamarie Emanuel, the member who brought the resolution (and a longtime advocate for the homeless in the University District), decided to table the resolution until January.[pullquote]At which point someone in the audience burst out "do you support any fun?"[/pullquote]
3. In other news from the Democrats' meeting—held at the University Heights Community Center at 50th and the Ave. in the U District—state Rep. Mark Miloscia (D-30, Federal Way), a classic social conservative, pro-labor Democrat who's running for state auditor , was the night's guest speaker. Given all the excitement among liberals about the push for gay marriage legislation, the crowd asked Miloscia how he would vote on gay marriage. He simply said, "No."
Miloscia was the main opponent of a bill that would have helped gay couples last session as well—state Rep. Jamie Pedersen's paid surrogacy bill. (Pedersen, the rep from the 43rd, is gay, is leading the legislative effort for gay marriage, and was also at last night's meeting.)
Miloscia was then asked why he opposes marriage for gays and lesbians (he said he's Catholic), how he felt about the marijuana legalization initiative (he said he opposes legalization and expansion of booze availability and service hours), and what his position was on abortion (he said he's "pro-life) at which point someone burst out "do you support any fun?"—leading to raucous laughter.
4. The post-election lovefest in Bellevue continues. (Eastside developer and anti-light rail crusader Kemper Freeman went all in against light rail this season putting $1.2 million into I-1125 and funding an attempted council coup. He failed on both counts).
After the council voted unanimously to support Sound Transit's preferred route through the city on the Monday night following the election, Council Member Kevin Wallace (Freeman's go-to Sound Transit antagonist on the council) accepted pro-Sound Transit council member (and ST board member) Claudia Balducci's invitation for post-vote beers at the Pumphouse ("Where people go celebrate winning softball games and political races," Balducci says.)
Wallace joined his one-time foes—Council Members Balducci, Grant Degginge, and John Chelminiak. "If we're in, we're all in," Wallace (who fought Sound Transit's plans all year) told Balducci over beers.[pullquote]Wallace joined his one-time foes at Bellevue's Pumphouse Bar & Grill. "If we're in, we're all in," Wallace (who fought Sound Transit's plans all year) told Balducci over beers.[/pullquote]
5. On her blog yesterday , city council member Sally Bagshaw issued a well-timed broadside against gas-powered leaf blowers which are noisy, dirty, and fill gutters and storm drains with leaves. (Coincidentally, a troupe of men wielding gas-powered leaf blowers routinely wakes Fizz up at 7:00 in the morning throughout the fall).
Bagshaw writes: "Dumping leaves into the gutter is clearly not a 911-type of violation, but it costs all of us money and creates bigger problems for us when the storms start. Leaves clog the storm drains, and that leads to flooding in the streets and even into your and your neighbors’ basements."
She suggests using a rake, an electric leaf blower, or a vacuum/composter devise. Will Bagshaw support a measure banning the filthy machines, as many other cities in the US have done? The council member hasn't yet returned a call for comment.
6. A quick follow-up to our story from last month's Rob McKenna fundraising numbers about big contributions from Nebraska Tea Party US Senate candidate (and Nebraska Republican AG) Jon Bruning. Politico has the news that Bruning told a group of college Republicans that he wasn't into the National Rifle Association anymore because they were "sometimes left" on gun control.
Bruning has maxed out ($3,200) to McKenna. And several of Bruning's own donors have also contributed to McKenna.
1. Eighty-four-year-old longtime activist (and onetime mayoral candidate) Dorli Rainey, a priest, and a pregnant woman were among those pepper sprayed by police at a tense Occupy Seattle protest on Tuesday night.
Two hundred or so Occupy Seattle protesters marched down to Westlake Plaza from the group's current camp at Seattle Central Community College on Capitol Hill, apparently in a show of support for the Occupy protests in New York, Oakland, St. Louis, and Portland, which have faced crackdowns by police in the last week.
According to police, six people were arrested for assaulting officers or pedestrian interference during the protest: a 17-year-old girl who "swung a stick" at an officer; a man who allegedly assaulted an officer at 3rd Ave. and Wall St.; a teen who blocked traffic at 5th Ave. and Wall St.; a man and a woman who blocked traffic at 5th Ave. and Pine St.; and another man who threw an "unknown liquid" at an officer, a department statement said.
Just after 6:00 pm Tuesday, the protesters had arrived at Westlake Park with American flags and signs saying "Solidarity Occupy NYC." A long line of Seattle Police Department bike patrol officers herded the crowd—full of young men and women wearing gas masks and bandannas over their faces—onto the sidewalk, as riled-up protesters screamed that the cops were making "enemies."
The cops, who had just peppersprayed a half-dozen people, including the sympathetic protesters noted above, seemed relatively unfazed by the protesters' chants. When one man began shouting that the protest was moving to 4th and Pike, one bike officer turned to another and mock-whispered "Intel says they're moving to 4th and Pike."
Cops lined up at Westlake last night.
The lowlight of the night came when a self-described "professional investor" named David, dressed in a suit with slicked-back hair, began lecturing a group of protesters—including a woman in her early 20s, who described how she worked at Safeway and was underemployed—telling them, "I'm in the one-percent, I'm not like you."
He then asked the woman: "Who is John Galt?"—a reference to Ayn Rand's anti-socialist novel Atlas Shrugged .
A young man wearing a black 99-percent shirt responded, "Go take your tie somewhere else."
2. In other Occupy news: A member of the 43rd District Democrats put a resolution on the group's agenda last night to set aside $200 to support Occupy Seattle. Some members had planned to fight the proposal because they believe the Occupy movement is antagonistic to the Democratic Party. However, Ginamarie Emanuel, the member who brought the resolution (and a longtime advocate for the homeless in the University District), decided to table the resolution until January.[pullquote]At which point someone in the audience burst out "do you support any fun?"[/pullquote]
3. In other news from the Democrats' meeting—held at the University Heights Community Center at 50th and the Ave. in the U District—state Rep. Mark Miloscia (D-30, Federal Way), a classic social conservative, pro-labor Democrat who's running for state auditor , was the night's guest speaker. Given all the excitement among liberals about the push for gay marriage legislation, the crowd asked Miloscia how he would vote on gay marriage. He simply said, "No."
Miloscia was the main opponent of a bill that would have helped gay couples last session as well—state Rep. Jamie Pedersen's paid surrogacy bill. (Pedersen, the rep from the 43rd, is gay, is leading the legislative effort for gay marriage, and was also at last night's meeting.)
Miloscia was then asked why he opposes marriage for gays and lesbians (he said he's Catholic), how he felt about the marijuana legalization initiative (he said he opposes legalization and expansion of booze availability and service hours), and what his position was on abortion (he said he's "pro-life) at which point someone burst out "do you support any fun?"—leading to raucous laughter.
4. The post-election lovefest in Bellevue continues. (Eastside developer and anti-light rail crusader Kemper Freeman went all in against light rail this season putting $1.2 million into I-1125 and funding an attempted council coup. He failed on both counts).
After the council voted unanimously to support Sound Transit's preferred route through the city on the Monday night following the election, Council Member Kevin Wallace (Freeman's go-to Sound Transit antagonist on the council) accepted pro-Sound Transit council member (and ST board member) Claudia Balducci's invitation for post-vote beers at the Pumphouse ("Where people go celebrate winning softball games and political races," Balducci says.)
Wallace joined his one-time foes—Council Members Balducci, Grant Degginge, and John Chelminiak. "If we're in, we're all in," Wallace (who fought Sound Transit's plans all year) told Balducci over beers.[pullquote]Wallace joined his one-time foes at Bellevue's Pumphouse Bar & Grill. "If we're in, we're all in," Wallace (who fought Sound Transit's plans all year) told Balducci over beers.[/pullquote]
5. On her blog yesterday , city council member Sally Bagshaw issued a well-timed broadside against gas-powered leaf blowers which are noisy, dirty, and fill gutters and storm drains with leaves. (Coincidentally, a troupe of men wielding gas-powered leaf blowers routinely wakes Fizz up at 7:00 in the morning throughout the fall).
Bagshaw writes: "Dumping leaves into the gutter is clearly not a 911-type of violation, but it costs all of us money and creates bigger problems for us when the storms start. Leaves clog the storm drains, and that leads to flooding in the streets and even into your and your neighbors’ basements."
She suggests using a rake, an electric leaf blower, or a vacuum/composter devise. Will Bagshaw support a measure banning the filthy machines, as many other cities in the US have done? The council member hasn't yet returned a call for comment.
6. A quick follow-up to our story from last month's Rob McKenna fundraising numbers about big contributions from Nebraska Tea Party US Senate candidate (and Nebraska Republican AG) Jon Bruning. Politico has the news that Bruning told a group of college Republicans that he wasn't into the National Rifle Association anymore because they were "sometimes left" on gun control.
Bruning has maxed out ($3,200) to McKenna. And several of Bruning's own donors have also contributed to McKenna.
