Motley Blog

La Femme Nikita

Directed by Luc Besson

Starring Anne Parillaud with Jean Reno

1990

This is the original version, not the competent U.S. remake starring Bridget Fonda or the Candian TV series by the same name. (I've not seen the TV series).

Besson is the maestro of stylish european action films and this movie may well prove to be his biggest masterpiece.

Parillaud plays 'Nikita' a very drugged out survivor of a drug store robbery gone bad shootout where everyone else dies, including the police, one cop by her hand. After conviction she is given the opportunity by the French State to enter a training program for assassins. As one might expect the State does not necessarily have her best interests at heart, viewing her as an expendable 'asset'.

Jean Reno plays the 'cleaner', at the ultimate moment of Nikita's 'sobering' - will she survive this gunfight or not?

Rosewood

Directed by John Singleton

Starring Ving Rhames with Jon Voight and Don Cheadle

1997

Like the John Hopkins vehicle 'Amistad' this movie will make white audiences uncomfortable.

Based on a true story, Rhames plays a drifting decorated WWI vet who arrives in the Florida town of Rosewood just prior to a false rape allegation by a white woman against another black male. This triggers what could basically be characterized as a genocidal raging mob killing many of the black citizens of the small town.

Rhames plays the protector.

This move is very much underrated and underappreciated - a must see.

Rambo

Directed by Ted Kotcheff

Starring Sylvester Stallone

1982

Rambo is not the sort of classic movie I review. However a comment by a Veteran, in Pierce County, seat of my hometown of Tacoma prompted a great deal of speculation. Pierce County, home of the Army base, has a large former army contingent and their presence is not one to ignore - especially in the trades and blue collar fields.

His historical comment was simply this, that 'Rambo' captured the Reagan era angst of Veterans and their treatment upon return from combat in Vietnam - a cohort of people at war with their own country.

This is true, and this movie marks a crucial point in the history of the United States. One caveat though - in the Army it can also be fellow soldiers - outside of your unit - who just might NOT have your back. That's a tougher subject, and a longer discussion....

Cops, Crooks, and Politicians

By Neil W. Moloney

With a foreword by Former Governor John Spellman

1993

This book is not quite the tell all that the title promises, however for those concerned with public safety, post WW2 corruption, or Pacific NW history this is a must read.

This is a cop's story of an uncompleted investigation, starting with a 1954 murder of a Seattle Police Officer in a Greenwood neighborhood bank robbery. The perpetrators were Canadians, apparently connected.

The author, former chief of the Seattle PD, Port of Seattle, and the Washington State Patrol, started his career about this time. He rose to the top ranks in the 1974 corruption scandals, a story he also addresses.

He doesn't name American names, or at least new ones. He does talk at great length about Canadian corruption and implies that there are similarities in 'practice' on this side of the border.

One name he mentions a lot, and seems to like, is former US Attorney Brock Adams who did his best to prosecute the case. Curiously this book was written not long after Adam's disgracement on no evidence.

Reading between the lines the names not said would be Norm Maleng and the Judges of King County, to start. Moloney though is a good cop, and states only those conclusions that he can back up.

It is up to the reader to bring their own experience to the story - and to ask themselves whether those same corrupt practices continue - or, as more likely, reinvent themselves.

The Moral Center

By David Callahan

2006

Callahan rose to notice in America with his early 2004 book 'Cheating Culture' where he makes the case that America has been taken over by those who dishonestly make their living - on the right and left.

'Moral Center' is his 2006 post election reflection on solutions for that problem.

I knew Callahan as an undergraduate (where Brock Adams was Trustee, in addition to his duties as US Secretary of Transportation). Callahan was on the political track while I was a economist into divestiture and workplace democracy. But we did have the chance to have several worthwhile conversations - my strongest memory is noticing that he was getting letters published in the New York Times on a regular basis. Definitely someone worth talking with, and hopefully I for him.

I'll leave his solutions to you, but let me extract his quoting of FDR for your thought.

Roosevelt was masterful at laying claim to the ideals of self-creation and personal liberty through hard work. In his 1936 speech to the Democratic Convention, Roosevelt decried industrial barons who had imposed a "new despotism", and said that "the average man once more confronts the problem that faced the Minute Man." He exhorted America to fight a "new industrial dictatorship" that crushed "individual initiative". FDR than spelled out his vision of freedom: "Liberty requires opportunity to make a living - a living decent according to the standard of the time, a living which gives a man not only enough to live by, but something to live for .....Today we stand committed to the proposition that freedom is no half-and-half affair. If the average citizen is guaranteed equal opportunity in the polling place, he must have equal opportunity in the marketplace."

Just prior to the conclusion of the book he quotes from another early 20th century leader, Supreme Court Justice Louis Brandeis.

We can have concentrated wealth in the hands of the few or we can have Democracy. We cannot have both.

A frequent complaint of anyone who takes their responsibility as a citizen seriously is the lack of decent information on judicial races. Getting a good picture of a Judge is difficult. Unless one is a regular observer of the court - a practicing lawyer, an intelligent court clerk, or above average police officer. One area where we definitely could do better is holding these individuals responsible for the consequences of their actions when the mess up - if it rise to that level, even just once. Even more important of course is removing such a dangerous individual from the practice BEFORE they ever get to consideration for a judicial seat.

I've got no smoking gun on Parisiene - however I do have a bit of information, enough to cause me not to vote for her, absent evidence to the contrary, and perhaps of some use to you.

Parisien is a 90k a year Assistant Attorney General since 1997, hired by Christine Gregoire.

My direct knowledge of her is through an email exchange - a response to an email to Ron Sims about the trickiness of dealing with abuse issues - whether they be sexual, racial, or anything. I don't think that Ms. Parisiene read my email closely enough to realize that I wasn't disagreeing with his assessment of Gregoire - and as such perhaps not as pro-Gregoire as Ms. Parisien thought. This was in the spring of the 2004 Gubernatorial year when Sims was contesting for the old style democratic nomination - I haven't checked but I would assume Ms. Parisien did go through the appropriate hoops in order to volunteer for her boss's campaign.
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I've done a quick google on Parisien - perhaps the best info out there are the various candidate interviews done by political organizations including partisan legislative district bodies. She graduated from SU and went to Law School back east, practicing there for a time, returning here in 1997 for an AG position. She moved to Mercer Island 6 years ago. She's done a lot of domestic violence work, including with King County, and this is what concerns me.

For a supposed expert on the subject of abuse her answer strikes me as curiously lacking. Some State Departmental employess, including some in the AG's office make it a practice of 'abusing' the law on harrassment, etc, for their own benefit and, apparently, 'control' needs. I have to wonder if Ms. Parisien hasn't in fact used my particular case in order to herself take advantage of this weakness in our current judicial oversight ability.

I can't say for sure, but absent a strong condemnation of these practices on the behalf of State employees in Downtown Seattle Superior Court this is definitely a way too risky candidate.

Curiously, the King County Bar Association only rates her as 'qualified' - the third highest ranking in the race for position #1. The gay bar group ranks her as unqualified. I'm not up on current legal practice in Seattle, but I do hope that this represents a knowledge of the abuses of Gregoire and her associates as it applies to the practice. Certainly there are at least a few folks who are more than fed up with it - some of them are likely even friends of Sims!

The damage done by Gregoire and her cohorts to all aspects of authority in this State - public and private sector has yet to be determined. This is why I oppose Gregoire. That's not saying I have any legal evidence against her, it's just saying she's just too risky to hire. There are areas that do need further professional investigation - on probable cause, if you will. Most notable of those are her other 'professional' associates.

Though the King County Court's may well believe that any individual capable of making a rational, legal, argument against the behavior of a State Employee (on OR off the clock) is in fact the equivalent of a violent lawless sexual predator it may well be that it is the opposit which is the case.

I'm still open minded about Parisien, but absent her condemnation of these practices, including as they've been applied to myself, she is, at best, not fit for this office. I won't burden you with an articulation of the worst case...at least not yet.

Here's the email exchange, again, from the 2004 Gregoire Campaign:

I'm a fan of current Washington State Attorney General McKenna. I saw him work in detail on the Sound Transit Board in the tough days leading up to the passage of the first Bond Issue. Many times he was the sole voice of dissent, though frequently he worked with his fellow King County Councilmember, the relatively independent Maggi Fimia of Shoreline. Although he himself was opposed to the project he was always constructive and his involvement led to a strong start for that agency - and a strong bus dominated plan of service for his own district area, the Eastside of King County.

Unfortunately the Sound Transit Board lost its leadership continuity in the days after passage. My opinion is that the turnover was a powerplay by the powers that be (operating through the Greater Seattle Chamber of Comerce). There was also a well managed financial 'scandal' that pretty much finished the job not too much later..

I'm voting for McKenna this time around, and I think he'll win. However I am concerned as to whether he's keeping his own 'continuity of leadership' as he matures in office. I'm of the opinion the barrel is rotten and we all know what all to often happens to good folks in such a situation.

Top on the bad apple level, and more senior to McKenna, would be the former AG, Christine Gregoire, and, on the Republican side King County Prosecutor (Seattle and immediate suburbs) Satterberg. FWIW, these two are the start of the Government 'Blame Game' cited effectively by current GOP gubernatorial candidate Dino Rossi.

Your status as a citizen in Seattle is the direct inverse of your ability to express your opinion to an elected local official.

If you are able to significantly effect both positive and negative opinions, double the effect.

If you are able to express your opinion with an eye to the budget, multiply it.

If you are to do all of the above, use an exponent.

(If you wish a positive Status in Seattle find a way to give bucketloads of cash to Foster, Pepper, and Sheffleman and 'volunteer' to speak for one of their tax revenue 'deals'.)

Foster, Pepper and Sheffleman is arguably the most powerful law firm in Washington State at the moment.

They rose to prominence as counsel to the well run savings bank, Washington Mutual, I believe avoiding the scandals of the savings and loan debacle of Keating, et al.

Under Norm Rice they entered the public bonding arena doing the first low-income housing bond. This looks to be largely the accomplishment of senior Partner Judy Runstad - a former land use official who married the inheirited wealth of the Wright and Runstad construction firm, Jon Runstad. (I'm not sure in exactly what order these events occurred).

At the passage of the first Sound Transit regional light rail bond they rose to an equal status with the traditional public brokers, Preston Gates and Ellis - sharing the responsibility - and operating out of the Greater Seattle Chamber of Commerce.

Under circumstances I'm still trying to figure out they seem to have risen to the top, with the still quiet fall of PGE (though not Bill Gates, Sr.).

However in the eyes of this recently re-activated and somewhat educated observer, they seem to have lost the support of many of their earlier backers. I won't go into details here, but it looks like, in the eyes of their old 'friends' they've now become the same as the old 'boss'.

Although the folks at the University of Washington believe that is their intellectual brain power that justifies above average salaries it is in fact an unlawful conspiracy of politically correct extortion, and only those with the 'literary' capability of accusing anyone who actually works for a living - blue collar or small business - of being somehow morally deficient - and worthy of sub-par compensation.

Technical and mathematical fields, the nerds, are somewhat exempt from this classfication, however for the more socially skillful of these individuals the burden of 'guilt tripping' is only heightened. A technically capable individual who is also intellectually honest will get the full 'hazing' from all parties, right and left.

For a related take on this see a Crosscut article by Richard Morrill.

An interesting trifecta of financial news this weekend - perhaps more significant than either 2008 VP choice, of the previous weeks.

First, the feds announced a takeover of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, the two competing federally created financial coroorations underwriting much of the residential owner occupied 'market'.

Perhaps more significant, at least locally, is the ouster of long time Washington Mutual President Kerry Killinger. I was doing some web research this morning on the recent history of the Killinger's relationship with WAMU, as well as that of its long time outside Counsel, Foster Pepper Shefelman.

It was my recollection that Killinger had recently been taken to task for giving himself a bonus as the firm was on its way from to 15% of it's all time stock price high. I also recalled some changes in the relationship with FPS. Although I was able to find plenty of references to shareholder lawsuits, I didn't find anything in my quick research.

This quote though, from FPS Senior Partner Judy Runstad in 2001 is particularly telling:

2nd item in Godden's Column

Any chance FPS will be held to account for their actions?

Isn't it ironic that on 9/11, the anniversary of the bombing of the NYC financial center, the World Trade towers, that our financial system is collapsing in a more damaging manner than could of ever been hoped for by Al Qaida - in substantial part because of the war profiteering of the Bush/Cheney administration and friends.

But if you think that is ironic, consider the fact that the reformist Republican Candidate has, by an edge, a better case for being able to deal with the economic situation than do the Democrats...

(See this piece from the Financial Times of London for a perspective on how Democratic members of the Congressional majority are looking.)

Though legal counsel for the currently troubled WAMU savings bank have crafted a careful image of social and environmental responsibility their financial practices and 'PC' abuses of power will in fact result in a net loss on these issues and the individuals themselves responsible will continue to profit from these 'changes'.

Lucia, Lucia

Directed by and adapted for the screen by Antonio Serrano

Based on the book 'Hija del Canibal' by Rosa Montero (Daughter of the Cannibal)

2003

This movie uses a detective mystery concerning the lead character's missing husband to explore the middle aged angst of a creative soul. Like Almodovar the director, Antonio Serrano, captures feminine neuroses with incredibly accuracy. At times it all seems a bit soap operaish, but don't let that distract your attention, there is something very real going on here.

A curious legal standard of Gregoire's generation under the law is 'the perception of the victim' .

I'm gonna challenge that bit of abusive double speak here, but first let me note that it is not without a rational basis, no matter how badly misapplied.

Folks who have been abused are sensitive, actions that most of us consider part of the rough and tumble of daily life in the real world can be quite stressful - this may well be a prime indicator of Post Traumatic Stress Disorder - whether it be a vietnam era vet or rape victim.

A quick item for your consideration, dear reader:

Would it be possible that many common items of wisdom are in fact a 'projection', en masse, of regular drinkers?

Certainly no one will challenge the connection between alcohol use and domestic violence, bt consider also these possible examples:

Accusations of criminally violent behavior against Pot Smokers

A supervisor 'needing' to discipline a worker who may actually more qualified than him, or her, self.

An American Financial professional foreclosing on an American Worker's house

I've written a bit about the supposed 'domestic violence' expert working for Christine Gregoire, hired during her tenure as AG, and, also, on her first gubernatorial campaign.

I don't have anything against Ms. Parisien, however, for me, she is a good 'random' example of the legacy of Gregoire in this State. She may well have never done anything "illegal", but she, in my mind, does meet the standard of an abuser, as she, and her, cohorts, would apply to a male, especially one just a bit younger. I don't like that standard, but it is the law. Personally I do think that if it can be proved, that should be grounds for immediate termination.

But this post is about equal pay.

As the reality of our current financial system begins to dawn on American's I've become aware of a 'mistake' in the economic numbers for our State - we too may already be, "in the shit".

The story, as it's been vaguely reported to me by a credible source, is that the usual summer layoffs from the school system were not reported. This has resulted in 'seasonally adjusted' numbers in the most recent reports that don't include the offsetting regular drop!

I'm not going to accuse anyone of intentional misreporting based on the information I have so far, but it sure seems to happen a lot around election issues in King County and the State.

Does the de facto leader of this board look like he is up for 'class'?

Though he did pay up for his share of the Bill Gates Law School, I am personally not convinced his accounts are up to date - nor without retaliation against his 'collectors'.

The quick bio of this guy, as this lay observer has been able to determine, is that he was the family law/divorce lawyer for Jack Abramoff's firm, Preston Gates and Ellis. I'm guessing that his active board wife, the deceased Mary Gates, got him a fair number of his clients.

Mary Gates was on the national United Way Board, how Jr. got his IBM contract, a deal that didn't work all that well for IBM. One has to wonder if that relationship used senior's legal strategies in order to gain as much as possible.

IBM, karma-wise, did have something coming to them -as a Black S. African tracked by their apartheid legal computer system would tell you.

Two questions for you, my friends,

Is the legal profession's use of computer's any better than S. Africa's apartheid era system?

Is Bill Gates, Sr, any better for the campust football 'stars' who were committing rape with the implicit approval of the administration, circa his appointment to the Regents?

Stranger has a great clip from YouTube on Rep Marcy Kaptur, D-Ohio (Toledo)

Kaptur on Federal Response

Basically she is calling for criminal prosecutions, where warranted, and confiscation of assets.

FWIW, that's really the only option we have.

Curiously, she suggests going back as far as 15 years - a time frame similar to one that I'd use in Washington State for not unrelated problems.

Personally I think we should also look for civil recovery of assets, though we do need to be very careful about legal standards and precendents in such 'property rights' matters.

Main Street in Metropolitan Puget Sound, Metropolitan Seattle, as 'they' would prefer is no longer 3rd Avenue. Main Street in this city-region is now I-5 or 405, with the various malls strong along it's length as our new 'main' street businesses.

The folks at Sound Transit would like to make main street for this region their light rail system, and, though I'm currently an opponent (for financial and legal reasons) they do have a shot at it. Given the current people in charge this is a very scary thing.

Sound Transit is currently controlled by the law firm of Foster Pepper Shefelman. I testified at a recent meeting about the financial and legal practices of this firm, given the recent failure of another institution they control, Washington Mutual Bank. In addition I also pointed out a specific example of managerial ommission in Tacoma/Pierce County the bike trail crossing of Pacific Avenue at the Sounder location, as per the GMA mandated Tacoma Comp Plan under employee Chris Larson.

A telling quote from FPS senior Partner Judy Runstad, former land use czaress at the City of Seatte, from a Jean Godden column in 2001. (Godden and Runstad share hair stylists, as well as money from FPS and hubby Jon Runstad)

As you are continuing to forumulate your response to the bankruptcy of Wall Street please consider the Washington State auditor, Brian Sonntag.

Mr. Sonntag has been an exceptionally talented, forward looking steward of the public's assets in this State. At my preliminary look he received more votes than anyone in our last primary and he received an even bigger endorsement of his leadership when the citizens of this State gave him the powers of 'performance audit' of state and local agencies.

This guy is a total winner and deserving of a high profile seat, perhaps not treasurer, but perhaps the SEC, if not some sort of governmental watchdog role.

As you consider your possible cabinet members in these final days of the campaign please consider our Attorney General, Rob McKenna. Besides being your ranking supporter in the State he is also exceptionally well qualified for the sort of leadership you bring to our Nation.

Certainly he should be candidate for the US Attorney General seat, perhaps something else.

One caveat though, we'd like him back as Governor or Senator. Of course he's pretty much running the State already, quite to the chagrin of current governor Christine Gregoire. It doesn't hurt that he's got a few Democratic friends, including the State Auditor, Brian Sonntag.

Main Street Madrona - Cafe Verite & architect Marty Leibowitz's new multi-family building

The Madrona neighborhood of Seattle is not the richest, though some of its residents certainly are. The neighborhood is, in my opinion, the very best in the City. I am of course biased. I'm prompted to write this by a recent piece in Crosscut, by Knute Berger, talking of history in Seattle and the Mount Baker neighborhood, where he grew up.

Mt. Baker is one of Seattle's finest neighborhoods, but it is perhaps a bit of a 'show' horse. Madrona, to the north, is perhaps Seattle's best example of a 'work' horse neighborhood. At the end of the bus line, above Lake Washington, the neighborhood straddles some of the finest waterview homes in the City as well as one of its historically poorest neighborhoods..

Though many casual observers would come to the quick conclusion that any growth in a neighborhood would be perceived as bad, it has happened here, and it was done well, including involvement by some folks living in the area.

On two full blocks there is a thriving business district, with offices, studios and 3 story residential developments. The transitional blocks adjoining have seen development, including an elementary school, but this is broken up by neighborhood parks as well.

Wilridge Winery and the Hi-Spot Cafe, North Madrona

Property rights are thought of as the domain of the local conservative battling his government for rights to develop environmentally protected land. In fact though it is simply an intellectual tool, not even a 'Motley' one, as in the title of this blog.

In economic theory ownership is defined as an ability to control a resource, of course including your own labor and brain. This may seem droll, but ability to 'control' a resource is, theoretically, supposed to be determined on your ability to manage the resource. Those that are not able to manage do not gain the resources to control anything more than themselves, if even that.

But it is not so simple as econ 101 would have us believe. For one, information is not free.Perhaps most importantly their are very definitely things that make government ownership of PARTIAL property rights desirable. The utility easement on your property is perhaps the simplest and most easily understood example of such a well defined partial transfer.

Value in a nation's financial market's is dependent on the people who control that market's operation, including those that make their living dependent on same. If all can be trusted value will be high, and appropriate. If they cannot be trusted value will be low and undervalued.

This can be applied to today's financial crisis. We now have an accurate measure of the baby boomer generation. Although they may well proclaim their 'decency' it is in fact worth no more than a Ted Bundy charmer smile. Welcome to the hippie third world, proving that a shave and a shower does not make an honest man, or woman.

Tom Brokaw called the parent's of these folks the 'Greatest Generation' in his best selling book, and rightfully so. However not calling individuals to responsibility for their actions on the basis of the 'merit' of their parents is a major part of the problem. Corporate media and it's 'smile' is in part responsible for this situation.

Resolving it may well take the passing of the baton of their 'authority'. Not to mention that of the 'worst' generation's.

CBS's classic 'Sunday Morning' program had a spot-on commentary from the iconic Ben Stein. I just searched for it this A.M., but as of now it is not up.

Hopefully we will be hearing, and seeing, more of him.

Some further explorations of important basics that they didn't tell you about econ 101....

Supply and Demand applies not only to specific products or an individual's labor. Supply and demand also effects the organization of our economy - the supply of a particular size and form of an organization is, theoretically, also subject to market forces.

Unfortunately due our current financial system this mechanism is not working - the determinant of success is not the ability to deliver a quality product, but rather one's complicity in the financial system that has just 'disproved' itself.

Welcome to the United Socialist States of America, Inc.

My name is George Herbert Walker Bush, and the KGB's Mr. Putin has nothing on me. My boys. Jeb and George are gonna kick your ass, just like they did Saddaam's. If you want to do business with me, contact my chief corporate socialism officer, 'Hank' Paulson.

As to the rest of you, you may think you are free, but the lawyers own you all, thanks to your foolish implementation of legal standards associated with political correctness.

Stand up to me, and I'll kick you into the hell on earth I've built, the sidewalks of the homeless and labled as a level 3 sexual predator.

Go ahead, make my day,

The Spokane Spokesman Review notes a possible ten year sentence for an Auburn area business absconding with sales tax revenues.

The legal argument is that these funds are not actually in the possesion of the owner, rather held in 'trust' for the State.

FWIW, too bad corporate and State employees aren't held to the same standard for money they 'hold in trust' - whether it be there shareholders or, the actual taxpayer!

Though the hypocrisy of the Bush dynasty and Hank Paulson cannot be denied, the current plan to take a partial ownership stake in the bailed out companies is appropriate.

The current plan is for these ownership rights to be without voting rights. At first glance this might seem wrong, but it probably does make sense. However, do recall that the 'management' right of termination, for cause, is always open to the government.

And, FWIW, one that still needs to exercised against firms that the government does not have a stake in.

I am sceptical of those that call for 'regulation' as the solution. Frankly, the way things are working now we get to choose between getting defrauded by Wall Street republicans or Capitol Hill regulators.

The final solution is to put the control of assets in the hands of those best able to manage them, for an appropriate mix of public and private benefit.

Sure, Dems and Republicans are going to disagree on exactly what that balance is, and that is exactly what domestic issues in electoral races should be about.

Another of the benefits in a 'property rights' approach to economics is in the management of a corporate organization.

Historically we have represented the interests of individual laborers through collective legal representation - and there is nothing fundamentally wrong with that. Of course it can also be divisive and counter-productive as the distribution of profits needs to be 'argued'.

The most common left wing answer to this is employee ownership, and this can work, but it is also not without problems - for one, how do you make the tough personnel decisions?

A mix though of salary and ownership has many, many benefits.

Corporate 'Welfare' is a term that resonates well with the best of our Country, right, left, and everyone else.

What is important is that our system, including completely private businesses and welfare organizations, as well as the ubiquotous american corporation works in the way that best makes sense.

A property rights way of looking at these questions work well, just so long as everyone involved recognizes the need for both pure public rights and pure private ones, as well as the corporate mix.

'X-efficiency' is a term used for talking about the unmeasurable, the particular value of the organizational management practices of an organization. The price of labor, the price of land, the price of inputs, service or physical can all be handled by an accountant, as well as reported to a government economist.

Our system and it's over-reliance on national institutions, has problems. Sure, there is a need for large national corporations. Washington State's Boeing is among the top of that list, as to are our automobile manufacturers. These are necessary evils and they require federal regulation.

However there are many businesses where largeness is bad - perhaps first among them the community coffeeshop (which, btw, is where this blog is mostly written).

Subsidizing a bad organization means that failure is perpetuated, not mitigated. Right now, those failures are at the national level, and we need to bring much, but not all, of the property rights in our system back to the local level.

Will there be more 'failures'? You betcha. Will there also be successes that we can all learn from and emulate? I sure hope so!

Taxation, under U.S. laws, is definitely not 'equal'. We like to see ourselves as a 'progressive' nation, helping out those that are less well off through our tax system. But if we step back and take a good look at this, is it really true?

Consider our civil justice system. From the same measure we apply to taxation is 'law' regressive or progressive?

Take another step back. Ask yourself this, considering everything under the control of law, taxes, civil courts, criminal courts, human resources, politicians, etc do we actually live in a progressive society or a massively regressive one?

Now, add the fourth dimension to your perspective, time.

Have we, since the 1960's, become a more just society? Or, perhaps have we become, in terms of our 'law', a third world country?

Law is fairly clear about self defense.

So too is our constitution about the tools available to us to defend ourselves against government. We are guaranteed the right to petition for redress, and the first and second ammendments of the constitution make due process clear.

That standard of what constitutes a threat from a government against an individual citizen must be high, and, bloody hopefully, it should be as narrow as possible.

But, exactly what is that standard, that is my question for you.

The futures market was predicting a black October Friday today - basically short sellers attempting to drive the market down yet further - however the market, though still down, is not crashing.

Recently I reviewed an Eastwood movie called 'Dead Pool' - the plot involving a group of successful individuals doing a sort of office pool on who could pick the most names who would die before 12 months was out.

Short selling on Wall Street is a bit like that, and definitely a dark game. But, as Eastwood's character Dirty Harry noted in the movie, sometimes they even come after you - by being a short seller you can make yourself a target of same...

Sure, individual and company property rights are easy to understand, even if we are doing a piss poor job at supporting them with our financial system.

Much more difficult are public tools - ones that belong to all of us, over whatever span they may reach.

I'd argue the public system is as broken as the private one - in fact I think we've foisted the weaknesses of both systems upon each, rather that reaching for the best of the two worlds.

I won't claim to have the final word on this subject, but, one measure that is very important is what people are willing to do for free. If someone finds something worth working for without compensation, it is likely a good endeavor.

This brings up the concept of matching private donations with public, and, this, too, is part of the solution.

Governor Gregoire and her generation have built their authority not absent any technical or organizational ability.

However, that ability is shielded from full accountability by the law, as her generation has made it. Among the 'tools' of that law is the ability to characterize a citizen or business person's questioning of government as 'harrassment'.

Though 'they' would have you believe that such an accusation is to prevent violence, it is actually a direct threat against the citizen - in fact, a directive that corporate and governmental organizations actually harrass the citizen business person - until they are bankrupt, until they die in the gutter.

Though I'm definitely a critic of Gregoire and crew for this legal scam taking us directly to the third world.I am not going to challenge that process.

We do need to regulate trhis economic punishement and make sure it is not abused, exactly as above. The best way to accomplish that regulation is to send those individual practictioners of this abuse to this hell on earth they have so righteously and criminally created.

If there are any fine points to be worked out as to what exactly defines that hell, well, let them argue the details. It is, as they say, 'a free country'.

Or so I hope.

The Columbus (Ohio) Dispatch has an interesting story about State computers being recently used to access the records of 15 minute famous 'Joe the Plumber'.

Story

According to the published report someone in the AG's office, a child support agency, and the Toledo Police Department accessed these records, all without 'cause'.

Methinks this might say more about these employees and their agencies than it does about the independent plumber.

Having greenbacks has sometimes been a good indicator of deserved authority. There are times though that it is exactly the opposite., and this, unfortunately, is one of them.

Now, I'm speaking in generalizations here, not pointing out specific individuals, like say, Henry Paulson, who seems to think that the only institutions to big to fail are those with whom he is associated, (including AIG a business Partner of Goldman Sachs)

But there are way, way to many examples these days where money is an indicator of abusive authority not earned toil - perhaps nowhere more so than in the boardrooms of corporate America and it's 'regulators'.

Real leadership doesn't make a grab for the cash as it runs for the door. It stays put and takes the risk associated with the reward.

Perhaps it is not coincidence that both Bush and the Democratic Congress are getting very close to single digit approval ratings. Perhaps either Obama or McCain can double that, or, perhaps, as McCain would put it, it is time to go 'Double Maverick'?

We hear a lot about how law is supposed to be bi-partisan. But in practice, is it really? Or was the Duke LaCrosse player prosecutor just making an attempt to manipulate both sides of the aisle?

...not that there is a single example of such here in the Pacific NW....

Citing DOJ 'policy' Bush Appointed Manhattan District US Attorney Michael Garcia has refused to prosecute Eliot Spitzer for prostitution.

Well, FWIW, I sure hope bi-partisanship is defined differently under Obama... :-)

However, it is a pretty safe assumption that the 'Bar' of legal conduct is set about the same here in Washington State, under the direction of the King County Superior Court, and it's officers.

New York Times article.

Here's an idea - how about we only pay these folks minimum wage? Are they really worth any more than that?

Word has it Seattle's own Jim Diers was in Chicago the Saturday after the election for an 'Urban Strategy' session with Barack Obama. Hopefully this works out to be a good thing. His ideals are lofty, the idea he claims of making democracy stronger through neighborhood activist organizing.

Presumably the Diers/Obama connection is through Jesuit Greg Galluzzo who trained both Diers and Obama in community activism..

Is the recent 700 Billion dollar Wall Street recue package nothing more than the moral and legal equivalent of a bailout of Enron? Certainly there are parallels - fraudulent paper transactions used to document value that did not exist - the only difference this time around is that the technique has been used across the board to support american corporatist finance - hence why I've called this piece 'Macro-Enronomics'

The term 'Enronomics' was first used in late 2001, and quickly spread, perhaps first at the Seattle Weekly under the pen of Eric Scigliano as well as on Jon Stewart's 'Daily Show' and George Stephanopoulos on ABC. Though rooted in pop culture this should perhaps be permanently associated with George W. Bush, much like H.W. Bush's term 'voodoo' economics has stuck to the supply side economic practices of Ronald Reagan.

It is quite true that we cannot afford to let our financial system melt down. But why, why in the world are we allowing these fraudsters to continue as leaders, let alone keep a dime of their ill-gotten gains or walk the streets.

We need to pay for the costs of this bailout, and the best way to do this is not higher taxes but to civilly confiscate the funds of the responsible beneficiaries of this scam - and make damn sure they never work in finance again - if ever make more than the minimum wage.

On Wall Street and Capitol Hill we are faced with a crisis of leadership and, unfortunately, our local 'main street' authorities are not without complicity in these practices. Most notably the criminal lobbying activities of Preston Gates Ellis (Microsoft's Law Firm) and the Enron like financial techniques of Washington Mutual under the control of the law firm of Foster Pepper Shefelman.

And, yeah, I'm suggesting that the corruption of corporate America is the responsibility of the legal profession - a la Elliott Spitzer in NYC and Alberto Gonzales in Washington D.C. - and, in the leadership position Washington Lawyers have taken, working as officers of the 'King County Courts'.

An illustrative case in point - the handling of the DUI case of Republican County Councilmember Jane Hague.

Barack Obama has just announced his economic team, including the controversial former Clinton Treasury Secretary, Lawrence Summers.

The item of concern regards some out of context comments regarding the aptitude of women in math and sciences - concerning the possibility that the sexes were wired differently, not concluding it. This was taken negatively by the politically correct of Harvard, and by the public at large - see the comments on this recent piece.

But consider this - perhaps the mathematically illiterate female members of the Harvard, Massachusetts comunity have a genetic defect which predisposes them to accept the slanders of corrupt Republicans?

Nigger Newt Gingrich - that has a nice ring to it, no? Perhaps one even worthy of going down in the History books, the field where he was once a southern professor? Of course, I certainly hope than no one would even think the term 'nigger Nifong' is controversial at all...

One other thing for sure, anyone who can graduate from Harvard CAN'T blame their upbringing for their failings as a human being.

With Obama still filling out his cabinet level appointments it will be awhile before the next US Attorney for Western Washington is selected. This, in my opinion, is a crucial appointment - the recent history has given us folks who are more interested in serving the legal community than the citizens of Western Washington.

I'm not current with the legal scene in Seattle these days, but still some speculation on some long standing names:

Jenny Durkan: At first glance Durkan would appear to be the top choice - long standing Democrat, counsel to Gregoire amd just about the right profile. Personally, I hope she doesn't pass the vetting. At some point I should do some work on her involvement in KC Elections, I have commented a bit on her before in the context of other pieces. Durkan, unfortunately, is very much part of the relationship network that has been a problem in this office in the past.

Former US Attorney Mike McKay has just made headlines locally in his Port funded audit of contracting practices, done concurrently with a Bush administration DOJ criminal investigation.

Seattle Times Story

I'm going to be critical of McKay, and draw inferences on problems in the office from his career, including those of his brother's tenure in the same position of the authority more recently, and famously. The trajectory of McKay's life may well be the best indicator of the degradation of the once fine tradition of moderate conservatism in this State, including his former boss King County Prosecutor Norm Maleng and former Governor/Evergreen College President Dan Evans.

McKay's moderate Republican credentials have a foundation worthy of pride.

The Shock Doctrine
-The Rise of Disaster Capitalism

By Naomi Klein

2007

This U.S./Multinational economics book looks at conservative business practices from Pinochet to Iraq. It is definitely written to be supportive of acurrent nti-war efforts. The unintended relevance of the book, published just before the last election cycle, to this current crisis is quite large, and the basis of my recommendation.

The usual Downtown Seattle suspects are blasting at Frank Chopp's proposal for the Viaduct replacement, but, as usual, aren't coming up with the money for their preferred alternative. Chopp's ideas might be just the way to get them to put up or shut up.

Chief among these proponents is Tayloe Washburn.

Being only 45 minutes from Seattle, and having lived there for fifteen years, I enjoy going back It seems my perspective changes for each visit and this immersion is a big part of the allure.

My purpose this day was a picture of a UW Law School Factory adjunct Professor, who also practices locally.

President elect Barack Obama must begin to address the economic situation quickly. However the most 'experienced' hands in this arena are the very source of the problem, on both the right and the left. These problems go to the very core of our capitalist democracy.

The corporate welfare left and the public asset thieves on the right are all currently salivating for an infusion of new funds, yet, curiously, it is exactly these same folks that have created the melt down in the economy. Funding these individuals is, in my opinion, guarantee the failure of America - likely within the decade.

With Bush II's attempted rescue of Wall Street under former Goldman Sachs CEO Henry Paulson the debate between FDR Keynsians (New Deal) and Reagan Friedmanites (Supply Siders) is over. This abusive alcohol fueled ideology has collapsed in a pile of corrupt public officials who treat the authority and importance of government like Ted Bundy treated his penis.

But this does not mean the right wing criticisms of government are wrong.

The sad story is that both sides are right, as you know, Washington D.C. is corrupt and it's sub 20% approval ratings - both Bush's Whitehouse and the Democratic legislature is ample evidence of America perceiving, and knowing, this fact.

But the failure of the Bush federal Republican crew does not say that there is not a role for the free market, and, in fact, in certain areas, including labor, it could atill work a whole lot better. The question though is the form of the balance between government and business. This is, and should be, a source of endless debate.

As case in point, consider the Western Washington Law firms of Foster Pepper Shefelman and the former firm of Preston Gates Ellis.

Seattle's Satan, Mark Sidran is leaving the Washington State Utilities and Transportation Commission - apparently to little notice by the media. By my quick survey his 12/16 press release only made the Daily Journal of Commerce, Bellingham Herald, and the online blog of the Tacoma Pierce County Tribune.

I speculated in the comments of that TNT post about Sidran's reasons for leaving - wondering if, perhaps, it was due some political ramifications from white collar criminal defense lawyer Mike McKay's rather duplicitious 'defense' of the Port's actions - masquerading his defense as an 'investigation'.

The reason for the concern is that Sidran, with some UTC influence over the Port, once worked for McKay, so, professionally their relationship is tight. Relationships are something to never underestimate in the legal profession where unspoken history often trumps any articulated rational legal analysis. I was taken to task for daring to so speculate in that comments section (linked above). Don't forget also that there is a history of problems associated with public dollars and white collar crime locally - including the assasination of US Attorney Thomas Wales. As a prominent white collar defense lawyer chances that the perpetrator is only one step removed from McKay are quite high. But I digress.

Mike Connell, IT guy for Karl Rove and numerous other Republican operations died in a suspicious plane crash after death threats and before testifying in an Ohio election case.

Curiously, his companies, among other things, was also involved in the US Attorney controversy that included Seattle area lawyer John McKay.

Besides the speculation on possible dirty play, the resume is interesting - FWIW, not all that different from the resume of Jack Abramoff, employee of the Seattle firm Preston, Gates, and Ellis.

This phrase, other people's money, is resonating with me. As you know, much of this blog is dedicated to exploring various aspects of societal responsibilty, including fiscal. I'm also a legal critic believing that much of the current problem we face goes to the lack of responsibility in the bar, to, you guessed it, other people's money.

Kent Kammerer, convenor (sp?) of Seattle's most diverse (best) civic forum had a recent piece on Crosscut regarding money and leadership in the City of Seattle which brought this all together for me.

I used the term in my comment on this piece - and coincidentally, heard it on the radio just that same day by the author of a book by the same title, Nomi Prins, published in 2004. Though Ms. Prins rose to the top at Goldman Sachs she is not a fan of Wall Street's excesses and her tales remain relevant.

But why am I blaming the legal profession for the sins of the financiers?

Is Downtown Seattle still a healthy commercial real estate market? The Puget Sound Business Journal thought so back as recently as Friday, December 19.

But things can change quickly.

The next Tuesday, the 23rd, the online paper announced that JP Morgan was vacating over 700 thousand s.f. in downtown Seattle.

Curiously, the very next day, based on pre-WAMU meltdown statistics, Downtown became 'distressed', making a top ten list of worst off cities....

Perhaps it's just me, but I'm smelling a Pike/Pine Parking Garage style bailout play. Such a pity, these poor oppressed commercial real estate folks.

“We hope to do to this industry what Wal-Mart did to theirs, Starbucks did to theirs, Costco did to theirs and Lowe’s-Home Depot did to their industry. And I think if we’ve done our job, five years from now you’re not going to call us a bank.”

Kerry Killinger, CEO of Washington Mutual, 2003

This is the lead quote from the front page of yesterday's Sunday New York Times.

Understanding what happened here is important, both to the region and to the country.

It's amazing how much local business history remains a mystery. Consider the question of who actually controlled Washington Mutual. Was it the shareholders? - no. Was it CEO Kerry Killinger? - perhaps. Was it their law firm? - I think so.

That firm is Foster Pepper Shefelman, whom I've often railed against.

The law firm, like the bank, has been around for quite awhile. The 'Pepper' in the name is Louis Pepper who was actually CEO of the WAMU through the savings and loan crisis until Kerry Killinger took the reins in 1990.

Consider also Downtown Seattle's Washington Mutual Tower. Although you'd think a bank could afford to own its own headquarters, it does not. Instead it is owned by a company called Wright Runstad. That company is controlled by the couple Jon (who inheirited it) and his wife, Judy.

Guess what? Judy is a senior Partner at, drum roll please, Foster Pepper...

Even though there is a shareholder class action suit still going forward FPS and the other clients it controls (via marriage or otherwise) seem to be doing okay.

Heck, they were even able to keep nearly 200,000 s.f. out of the hands of the FDIC.

In the case of Washington Mutual Tower, owner Wright Runstad & Co. has worked out a deal in which JPMorgan assumed WaMu’s lease on 180,000 square feet of space and then immediately turned it back over to Wright Runstad, said Greg Johnson, president of Wright Runstad.

That move prevented the space from being turned over to the FDIC and allowed JPMorgan to continue to lease about 7,000 square feet in the tower that’s used for a WaMu branch. WaMu’s space was also 70 percent subleased, so it allowed those tenants to remain in the building without disruption, said Johnson.

From the Puget Sound Business Journal

To be honest, I don't completely understand how these deals work and what the FDIC's claims would be, but I bet it's interesting. And I'd also bet it's not the only such deal around this bank, it's law firm, and its other 'clients', many of them in real estate.