I like trains...

As I sit here on my couch watching ‘doomsday central’ aka The History Channel lament the eminent downfall of humanity due to societies’ overreliance on fossil fuel, I was reminded of a ray of hope.

Link Light Rail is opening here in Seattle this weekend!

Being a long-time proponent but only recent user of mass transit, I am excited to see Seattle move in the right direction.

Do I think this initial 13.9 mile stretch of light rail is going to be the cure-all for the region’s traffic woes?

Nope.

But they say the first step is always the hardest one. And Seattle has finally taken the first-step towards a real mass transit solution.

As you can see in the hyperlink above, Light Rail’s tentacles are already beginning to sprout.

And I find the growth or should I say potential growth as exciting as the start of service this weekend.

This initial line is a backbone off of which many lines will grow. The fact that expansion has begun even before the first passenger has boarded a train only proves that theory.

Now that we have a fleet of trains and a base of operations, growing the service is much easier.

I was a fan of the monorail. I even voted for and paid taxes for it. Mostly because I liked the planned service routes. The monorail plan proposed an X-pattern, spreading from Ballard and the U-District on the Northside to West Seattle and Rainier Beach on the Southend, with all lines running through downtown.

I see the same idea coming together with Light Rail, the foundation has been laid with a downtown HUB and a (future) line from the U-District that extends to the Airport.

The prospect of being able to take a train from Ballard to Kent doesn’t seem at-all far-fetched when you see what is already under way.

And this is all West-of-the-lake-centric.

Just think of the possibilities when you add a Seattle-Redmond Line via Bellevue.

I already bus it to the Eastside and have loved the nearly traffic-free ninja-route that buses are allowed to take during the I-90 construction as the solo-commuting masses sweat-it-out.

But my bus, the 550, seems rather underutilized outside of peak traffic hours so rushing to get an east-west line doesn’t seem necessary, yet. Though it would be nice to see some proactive as opposed to reactive planning for once.

So needless to say, I plan on hopping-on the train this weekend like many other folks.

I just hope they plan on coming back, like me.

I'll be right back.

Funny how going-out for a gallon of milk can change your perceptions.

I have lived in the Central District neighborhood of Seattle for over two years now. And for most of the time that I have lived there I have felt perfectly safe.

That changed recently.

As I headed-out to Safeway to grab some groceries, I thought nothing of it. I rolled north on 23^rd Ave S, past landmarks like Garfield High School and Ezell’s Fried Chicken. After two years, I tend to pay such landmarks no mind.

It was on my way back home that I took note…

On my way back to my condo, I saw a cop roll-up behind me, lights-ablaze. Not an uncommon occurrence on 23^rd, so I paid it no mind. Though as I approached 23^rd & Cherry I saw a fire truck, ambulance and yellow police tape running the length of the thoroughfare. Now this…was an uncommon occurrence.

I ducked onto a back road and made my way home.

Little did I know, that what had just taken place at this intersection would profoundly change how I perceived the place I have called home for the past few years.

I hopped online to get the down-low on what had happened and found-out that two people were dead, victims of a drive-by shooting.

Normally such news would roll off my back. But the folks were alive as I rolled-by on my way to the store. And now, 30 minutes later, they weren’t.

That realization blew my mind.

I grew-up in South Seattle, a place with an undeservedly bad reputation. I was a fat, white, nerd who managed to get-by just fine. So when I hear that Seattle is ‘Ghetto,’ I beg to differ.

I’ve been to Chicago. I’ve been to LA. I’ve been to NY/Brooklyn…

Those are ghettos.

Seattle, by comparison, is a joke.

I live in the CD, grew-up in the South End and kick-it in South Park/White Center/Burien. All of which pale in comparison to the destitution of a real ghetto.

Which is why seeing such violence outrages me.

The CD, short for Central District for those not in-the-know, has seen quite an upswing in the past few years. Some call it gentrification, I call it not fearing being jacked as you walk to your car. (Which is not to say that jackings/break-ins don’t occur anymore.)

Some folks see gentrification as a horrible thing, but I venture to say that most decent folks (regardless of race) like to see a community that takes pride in itself.

Sadly, I have seen signs of a backslide in the CD lately. Drug dealers have been openly operating on busy street corners. I am also seeing more and more kids rocking red clothing…when I was a youngster, the CD was Crip territory. Oh, how times have changed.

Every time I see signs of the ‘Hood, I find myself asking the same question, Why?

Again, Seattle is not ghetto. And it really pisses me off that a couple knuckleheads, who have visions of 50-Cent dancing in their heads, can undo 10 years of redevelopment.

It’s not just white-folk who enjoy walking the streets without fear.

And now, with one action, one knucklehead, has undone all of that.

They say ‘One bad apple ruins the bushel.’ I say ‘A fuckin’ loser hoses a neighborhood.’

I was raised in a less-than-stellar area and have always minded my surroundings…being a cracka in the ‘hood, you learn to read the angles.

But I never felt I HAD to so in the CD, until now.

So while I normally don’t condone violence. I’d like to find the reject who lacked the testicular fortitude to face a foe straight-up and beat the living shit out of them.

Though knowing the ‘code of the street’ (as laid-out in various gangsta movies where I am sure this gutless shooter picked-up their code of ethics) I know retaliation would be necessary. So that is just a dumb road to venture down.

Instead, I’ll just say, remember the CD before Sunday afternoon. It’s still the same people. It’s still safe.

Don’t let the ball-less minority rule the good and decent majority.

Take control of your neighborhood.

We’ve done it before and we can sure as hell do it again.

Did you hear about ... ?

So the talk of the town has been Michael Jackson’s death.

I won’t lie, I was glued to the interwebs once I caught wind of the King of Pop’s possible demise.

I was hitting refresh on my browser and had multiple news sites open looking for the latest update on MJ. *That’s Michael Jackson, not Michael Jordan, for the record.

I could hear everyone in my cube-farm-of-an-office chatting, trying to get the latest information about the King. *That’s Michael Jackson, not Elvis.

But as I was clicking refresh and debating if I was going to give-in and credit TMZ.com as a news source, I came to a realization.

Does it really matter?

Not in the slightest.

Michael Jackson was a hell of an entertainer. And I count myself as a fan. He made some timeless music that brought joy, if only for a few minutes at a time, to millions of people. So that, I appreciate. The other stuff, I coulda done without.

But what struck me as I was hitting refresh on Foxnews.com (yes, I was reading Foxnews.com, I am ashamed of myself, too) it dawned on me.

Instead of having multiple browser windows open trying to get the latest what was essentially celebrity gossip, I should be researching the Iranian Elections or examining how the Obama Administration is handing North Korea.

I mean, North Korea has freaking NUKES pointed at the US and a leader who is talking a lot of shit about using them. I think the possibility of nuclear war should be slightly more important than well, Michael Jackson.

Then there’s the little matter of Iran. I have waffled back and forth on this issue, from it’s none of our business, to we should intercede to enact the true will of the Iranian people. But no matter my stance (there may be another post on this topic specifically) democracy is trying to take a big step forward in Iran and it is being stifled mercilessly. Sadly no one knows about it, because TMZ and Perez Hilton aren’t tweeting updates directly to people’s cell phones.

Sigh…

The world lost a great entertainer yesterday.

But I think the world loses a lot more everyday, when people choose to live in ignorance.

Getting Taken Down a Notch.

This whole writing thing is pretty interesting.

To be honest, the only reason I do it is because people read it. And some folks have gone so far as to say I am, wait for it, good at it.

Then again, when I think about it, when does anyone tell someone when they are bad at something? I know I meet plenty of morons on a daily basis and am sure to say ‘Thank you’ even after receiving horrible service from someone who managed to bungle the most mundane of tasks.

So needless to say, I take these compliments, no matter how well-intended, with a grain of salt.

But this past week, I had a J.D. from Scrubs moment. Just as I was busting-out a few posts, actually acting on inspiration as it hit me and feeling like I was hitting a groove…

I read a couple of blog posts from friends of mine that knocked me on my ass.

I’ve got quite a list of blogs listed to your right there, some of which are there because they: refer traffic to my blog, can damn hell ass write or are just friends.

I read a couple posts from folks who can just plain write. In fact, the posts were so good, that I thought about just giving-up. Seeing such talent, made me examine what I had been putting out there. And it paled in comparison.

Don’t get it twisted: I am stoked to have such talented friends around me. Seeing such great thoughts expressed so stylistically is just impressive.

I’ve never really thought of myself as a ‘writer.’ I had to take English 101 twice and only took one class in literature. I am good at imparting what is in my head and putting it on paper. That does not a writer make.

I got my degree in journalism on charm, not skill. *It was a Public Relations degree, so I think it’s appropriate.

Even though I have a journalism degree, I've never been into researching, fact-checking or editing. Ask any of my professors/editors from college, or read these here rants, and you can see why the journalism thing never really panned-out. But I do have stuff to say and a pretty strong voice when sitting behind a keyboard.

I am to a journalist/writer, what Jon Stewart is to cable news anchormen. Entertaining, but not to be taken too seriously.

And I am OK with that. The world needs Jon Stewart.

*BTW, Stewart is much smarter and is far more educated on the topics he lampoons than yours truly.

So here I am, aged 30 years, a tech support guy who manages to tap-out a rant every now and again, usually while hung-over.

Why keep doing it? Uh, well…

Why did I start in the first place? Uh, well…

I may not be the most eloquent, but I am easily annoyed and fairly observant. So there will be fodder for these pudgy digits of mine.

The next Mark Twain or Hunter S. Thompson I am not, but whatever.

Life is much easier when you give in to mediocrity.

The Superhero Phenomena

Drinking alone is an interesting phenomena.

Pretty much frowned upon by society, I’ve come to enjoy heading to a bar, ordering-up a cold one and just listening.

Not to say that I am eavesdropping per se, but while watching the game and BS’ing with the bartender, I tend to overhear a conversation or two.

This very thing occurred the other night, as I sat at my laptop, IPA by my side, I overheard the table next to me chatting. The word ‘Western’ caught my attention. It appeared the folks next to me were WWU alums like myself.

I went back to my surfing the net and watching the NBA Finals pre-game show. But I then overheard that the WWU kids were teachers. Again, this peaked my interest as I had gone to Western to become a teacher. Disclosure: I changed my major after I realized I didn’t like kids very much.

While I thought, ‘Wow I have a lot in common with these kids,’ the conversation took a turn for the worse.

One of the teachers, a self-described 2nd year middle school teacher said, “I am hoping to get assigned to a low-income school, where I can make a difference.”

I took offense.

Having attended a ‘low-income’ (read: minority) school myself, I am perhaps overly sensitive to the ‘great white hope phenomena’ that seems to engulf over-privileged white kids who want to ‘save the ghetto.’

I was admittedly hyper-sensitive on this particular day as I had just seen a story on the Seattle Times web site noting that multiple eastside high schools were among the top 100 best in the country…and one of the first comments left was “Where is Rainier Beach? LOL” (Rainier Beach is my alma mater.)

While I have no problem with anyone who has chosen to teach, I do have an issue with someone who has a superhero complex.

If you want to teach, you teach. Regardless of where the job happens to be.

The ghetto doesn’t need saviors. It needs schools/opportunities on par with those in the suburbs.

If the challenge of the job attracts good teachers, then great. But I doubt the sincerity of teachers who are in it for the glory. They are there for themselves, not the kids.

I came across a couple of these ‘saviors’ when I was a student, and you know where they are now? Not in the trenches, saving the ‘hood. They boned-out after a couple of years. When they realized the accolades and book-deals weren’t coming.

To the superheros I say- “Good riddance, feel free to stay on the Eastside.”

The ghetto doesn’t need that kind of charity.

The pipeline, re-visited

Being that today is the 10-year anniversary of the Olympic Pipeline Explosion I thought I'd re-post this editorial I wrote for The Western Front in 2001.
*My views have changed since then, please see the comment section for my updated take.

Frontline
Western Front Editorial Board January 29, 2001

No explosions to report.

No deaths to count.

No lawsuits to cover.

No congressional hearings to talk about.

For most, silence is golden. But that goes double for
companies responsible for environmental disasters. Silence means people are beginning to forget. Silence means communities can return to business as usual.

That is exactly what the Olympic Pipe Line Company is trying to do: return to business as usual.

The pipeline isn't open - yet. But it will be in the near future. The company's new owners began refilling the pipeline on Friday. It could begin pumping fuel again as soon as next week.

The risks associated with the pipeline are clear. Three people died, an ecosystem was nearly destroyed and a community will never be the same.

This pipeline is simply a bad idea and it should not be re-opened. It runs through too many highly-populated areas. The next accident could take place in a much more populated area where the results will be worse than the last explosion.

One argument for the pipeline is that it is safer than alternative modes of transportation, like the tanker trucks or barges. However, when a tanker truck crashes, Congress doesn't get involved.

Gas stations in town don't seem to be running low on fuel in the pipeline's absence. So, obviously, there are viable alternatives to pumping flammable liquids through neighborhoods and city parks.

Olympic has done an outstanding job of waiting out criticism and downplaying the pipeline's importance. The fact of the matter is that this pipeline is a big deal, and people need to remember that.

People need to voice their opinions and make their feelings known. When this pipeline does reopen, public scrutiny will make Olympic accountable for its actions and therefore make the pipeline that much safer.

The company has agreed to install more safety devices along the pipeline to detect problems before they become disasters. It has also retrained employees to ensure safety. All of which seem to be responsible actions for the company to take.

Gee, maybe Olympic isn't that bad. Maybe they simply made a mistake and now are trying to make it right. Maybe we should just leave them alone.

Or maybe not.

Public scrutiny is the key to maintaining any sort of safety with this pipeline. Olympic workers who were on duty during the accident refuse to testify in front of the National Transportation Safety Board - hardly the actions of a community-conscious organization.

Silence breeds complacency. Complacency breeds problems - in this case, a 37-mile long problem.

Frontlines are the opinion of The Western Front editorial board: Andrea Abney, Heather Baker, J.R. Cook, Alex P. Hennesy, Jessica Keller, Levi Pulkkinen and Matt Williams.

Starbuck's junkies wake-up! (yeah I said it)

So this is a bit of an FYI, as much as a what you get.

Apparently Starbuck’s accidentally double-charged many a customer on 05/22 (my birthday, btw) and 05/23, per this story I saw on MSN. Per the story The ‘Bucks is doing their damnedest to credit/refund the over-charges.

So now that you’ve been notified, the FYI portion of this post is done.

Now to the ‘what you get’ portion.

If you pay so little attention to your bank account that you got double-charged and then have to be told about it…you deserve to pay $7+ for a coffee.

Wake-up. Or toss a 5-spot my way.