Emerald City Commentary

• Peak Oil Book

  If you only read one book about peak oil, this is the one to read: The Long Descent: A User's Guide to the End of the Industrial Age
  
  Here are some excerpts from the book, and here are some book reviews:
  Amanda Kovattana
  Frank Kaminski
  [...]
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  Posted: September 11, 2008, 1:56pm EDT
  

• A Day Late and a Dollar Short?

  Articles of Impeachment Read in Congress Against Bush
  
  Better late than never, I suppose . . . [...]
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  Posted: June 10, 2008, 6:13pm EDT
  

• More on Cultural Conservers

  This week's post on cultural conservers by John Michael Greer is even more intriguing than last week's was. [...]
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  Posted: May 29, 2008, 10:18am EDT
  

• Entertainment

  Quoting from an email quoted in an article in Minyanville:
  

  Kevin -

  Talked with my Mom tonight. She played Canasta with her girlfriends today (she's the youngest at 66). Topic of conversation was how much things feel like they did going into the Great Depression (several of them [...]

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  Posted: May 23, 2008, 9:38am EDT
  

• Cultural Conservers

  Go here to read about John Michael Greer's thoughts on what will need to be done to preserve the bits of western industrial civilization that are worth preserving. This subject is very interesting to me, and I intend to explore more how this sort of thing might be accomplished. [...]
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  Posted: May 22, 2008, 11:03am EDT
  

• More on the Democratic nominating process

  It's not very often these days where an election is held where I don't feel compelled to vote against anybody, but oddly enough that seems to be what is happening with this year's contest for President. With that, here are my views on the candidates:
  
  1) John McCain - [...]
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  Posted: March 27, 2008, 11:39am EDT
  

• Power Hungry?

  The latest from the Clinton Campaign: Obama "Can't Win a General Election"
  
  That's laughable. A little analysis (see also here) reveals that Clinton is the one who probably can't win a General Election, and this thought is seconded by conservatives, some of whom are salivating [...]
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  Posted: March 13, 2008, 3:52pm EDT
  

• Why the Democrats would be idiotic to nominate Hillary . . .

  . . . because she would probably get trounced by McCain, while Obama in turn will probably be able to soundly defeat McCain. So it would appear that the choice of nominee will be a large indicator of whether the Democratic Party would like to hold the presidency [...]
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  Posted: February 28, 2008, 8:40am EST
  

• Write Your Legislator

  From Flexcar:
  

  As you are well aware, we have been working hard on your behalf to exclude car sharing members from paying the states car rental tax. We know, as do you, that car sharing has numerous and proven environmental and community benefits. And its never been more important to [...]

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  Posted: January 25, 2008, 9:11pm EST
  

• The New Oil Year

  Oil futures rise to $100 a barrel [...]
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  Posted: January 02, 2008, 11:53am EST
  

• Local Employment News

  WaMu to cut more than 3,000 jobs
  
  WaMu laying off 3,150; closing home loan stores
  

  The Seattle-based thrift, one of the nation's largest home lenders, said Monday it will:
  • Cut 3,150 jobs, mostly in its struggling home loans business;
  • Shutter nearly two-thirds of its home-loan [...]

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  Posted: December 10, 2007, 3:55pm EST
  

• Primitive Skills Development

  Two interesting looking websites:
  Primitive Skills Links
  Wolf Camp Cooperative [...]
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  Posted: December 07, 2007, 8:19am EST
  

• Recession

  Recession Hits U.S. Profits; Economy Might Be Next
  
  I am also starting to hear anecdotal evidence that the malls and stores are rather dead for the Christmas shopping season. Early 2008 might not be so happy in the economic realm. [...]
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  Posted: December 03, 2007, 10:09am EST
  

• Good Peak Oil Website

  Ohio Peak Oil Action has a website that is clear, well-laid out, and fairly informative. I particularly like the Local Leadership section. [...]
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  Posted: November 29, 2007, 10:56am EST
  

• The Financial System Mess

  Recently, the New York Times published an article detailing how an Ohio judge stopped foreclosure proceedings by Deutsche Bank against 14 borrowers, for the somewhat humdrum reason that Deutsche Bank apparently couldn't produce the titles to the properties in question. It turns out that in this era of mortgage-backed [...]
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  Posted: November 16, 2007, 2:21pm EST
  

• Disorders

  I have been thinking for a couple of weeks that I need to write a post summarizing the astonishing rate of deterioration of some of the key economic indicators I have had my eye on lately. Now, John Michael Greer has beaten me to it with this post. So, [...]
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  Posted: November 08, 2007, 12:02pm EST
  

• Proposition 1 Dead

  So, apparently the frankenstein measure, instead of offering everybody something to vote for, ended up offering everybody something to vote against.
  
  Now, hopefully we can get down to the serious work of expanding light rail and general expanding mobility options, without getting tied in a knot by the pavement [...]
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  Posted: November 07, 2007, 8:25am EST
  

• Election Tomorrow

  Everybody remember to vote! [...]
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  Posted: November 05, 2007, 9:18am EST
  

• Proposition One

  Latest article on why the shotgun wedding between RTID and Sound Transit is idiotic: Greens split over roads vs. rails measure
  
  My views have shifted a bit on this one. I may actually vote for it, but purely for practical reasons - expanding the light rail system would [...]
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  Posted: October 26, 2007, 1:31pm EDT
  

• Over 90

  Oil hits record above $90 on OPEC report [...]
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  Posted: October 25, 2007, 2:11pm EDT
  

• Foreign Capital Flows

  A very startling chart (once you figure out what it is). [...]
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  Posted: October 18, 2007, 9:37am EDT
  

• Another Record

  Oil Closes Above $86 a Barrel [...]
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  Posted: October 15, 2007, 2:10pm EDT
  

• Seattle has no sense of humor . . .

  . . . as can be seen in the comments responding to this amusing bit of satire on the Seattle Public Schools blog. (Disclaimer: referenced blog is not officially endorsed in any way by Seattle Public Schools. It is a forum maintained by interested parents.) [...]
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  Posted: October 11, 2007, 8:53am EDT
  

• U.S. Military: Stronghold for the Christian Taliban?

  This is very disturbing to me: Atheists Wonder if Fellow Troops Got Their Backs. (Hat tip to The Wild Hunt Blog.)

  In the midst of their fight to bring freedom to Iraq and Afghanistan, some American soldiers say they are finding their own freedoms threatened by the troops [...]

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  Posted: October 10, 2007, 10:45am EDT
  

• Proposition One

  Road and transit measure a tossup
  
  Consider these 10 points
  
  Say yes to progress
  
  Foes of road and transit measure contest informational mailing
  
  Fork in the Road
  
  The shotgun wedding of RTID and Sound Transit may prove to be one [...]
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  Posted: October 04, 2007, 5:28pm EDT
  

• Local Politics Roundup

  Sims now opposes roads measure
  
  The roads-and-transit plan: so much cost to do so little
  
  Prop. 1 RTID: Vote NO (Sierra Club Endorsement)
  
  With the Sierra Club and Ron Sims both against the RTID proposal, I really don't think it can pass. If it [...]
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  Posted: October 01, 2007, 1:37pm EDT
  by Roy Smith

• Autumnal Equinox

  More night than day for the next six months ... into the gloomy season we go! [...]
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  Posted: September 21, 2007, 8:56am EDT
  by Roy Smith

• Dollar Devaluation

  The Federal Reserve cut interest rates by 0.50% on Tuesday.
  
  Recent Headlines: Canadian dollar hits parity: how high will it go? and Flip Side of Rate Cut: Higher Oil. Oil closed today at $83.38 per barrel on NYMEX.
  
  Enjoy the Stagflation! [...]
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  Posted: September 20, 2007, 12:33pm EDT
  by Roy Smith

• Seattle House Inventory

  On July 15th, 2007, there were 10,000 single-family houses listed in King County by the Northwest Multiple Listing Service.
  
  On September 12th, 2007, this number had climbed to 11,000 single-family houses.
  
  That is an increase of 10% over 2 months, or an annual rate of increase of over [...]
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  Posted: September 14, 2007, 10:46am EDT
  by Roy Smith

• Seattle House Prices

  In the Seattle PI: Home, wage gap widens

  The 2006 numbers, released Tuesday, show the value of a typical Seattle home is 7.7 times the median household income in 2006 -- a 39 percent jump from the ratio in 2000.

  Historically, this ratio is typically in the 3.0-3.5 range. Anybody [...]
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  Posted: September 12, 2007, 9:01am EDT
  by Roy Smith

• All is Quiet . . .

  . . . and the price for crude oil ($78.14 per barrel) set an all-time record for highest closing price on NYMEX. Keep in mind that there is not and has not recently been anything going on in the world oil markets that would normally cause the price of oil [...]
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  Posted: September 11, 2007, 2:26pm EDT
  by Roy Smith

• Primary Election Endorsements

  The Primary Election for August 21st is not very exciting or controversial as elections go, so I don't have a whole lot to say about any of the issues or candidates this time around. The Seattle Weekly apparently thought the whole thing was so dull that they didn't even bother [...]
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  Posted: August 19, 2007, 1:19pm EDT
  by Roy Smith

• Housing Bubble Implosion and Related Shocks

  The conventional wisdom has changed. No longer are we living in the "real estate always goes up" era.
  
  As I write this, the DJIA is over 10% off its all time high set earlier this year. The proximate cause (that is being blamed at least) is turmoil in the [...]
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  Posted: August 16, 2007, 9:15am EDT
  by Roy Smith

• Storm Clouds Gathering

  We are living at the beginning of interesting (and not interesting in a good way) times economically. The housing bubble is beginning to burst - in some places the meltdown is in full swing, while here in Seattle it still has yet to get going. It will go, though. Consider [...]
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  Posted: August 14, 2007, 10:30am EDT
  by Roy Smith

• Education After Peak Oil

  I have been reading Beth Bakeman's Seattle Public Schools blog, and it has given me a lot of food for thought, as well as quite a few insights into how other parents view their children and education.
  
  Of particular interest to me is that Seattle Public Schools (SPS) [...]
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  Posted: August 06, 2007, 7:43am EDT
  by Roy Smith

• Back to Blogging

  For a number of reasons, I took a long break from blogging. But now I'm back! [...]
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  Posted: August 01, 2007, 12:54pm EDT
  by Roy Smith

• My Lack of Posting

  It may be noticeable that I haven't posted for a while here. I have consolidated all of my posting to one blog, which you can read here. [...]
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  Posted: January 25, 2007, 2:47pm EST
  by Roy Smith

• Selecting a New Superintendent

  Raj Manhas has declared his intent to step down as Superintendent of Seattle Public Schools when his contract is up. Read about it here, here, here, and here.
  
  The following is from Maggie Metcalfe, a parent involved with AS#1, and I think it summarizes nicely [...]
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  Posted: October 24, 2006, 7:20pm EDT
  by Roy Smith

• General Election Endorsements

  State of Washington
  Initiative 920: Vote NO
  Initiative 933: Vote NO
  Initiative 937: Vote YES
  
  King County
  Proposition No. 2: Vote YES
  
  Federal
  United States Senator: Vote Maria Cantwell
  United States Representative (Dist. No. 7): Vote Jim McDermott
  
  State of Washington - Leg. District No. 46
  Senator: [...]
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  Posted: October 22, 2006, 1:17pm EDT
  by Roy Smith

• The End of Foolishness

  Number of comments: 2
  I'm a little late posting about this, but after the Superintendent elected to proceed with his flawed recommendations, the Board of Directors of Seattle Public Schools voted to table all Phase 2 recommendations indefinitely.
  
  In practical terms, that means this battle has been decided conclusively in favor of AS#1 [...]
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  Posted: October 22, 2006, 1:13pm EDT
  by Roy Smith

• Foolishness, Part 5: The AS#1 Site Hearing

  Number of comments: 1
  This post actually is not about foolishness, as the AS#1 site hearing on Thursday went extremely well. We made a conscious effort to model the values that we as a school teach to our children, and to not let the hearing be a mindless display of anger and frustration. In [...]
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  Posted: October 07, 2006, 12:17pm EDT
  by Roy Smith

• Foolishness, Part 4

  We are almost two weeks into this process (with a little over a month to go), and here are my current observations.
  
  1) The district is now talking about limiting choice to save on transportation costs (see You may not get to choose a school in the Seattle [...]
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  Posted: September 27, 2006, 9:02am EDT
  by Roy Smith

• Foolishness, Part 3

  Today's scorn is reserved not for the school board or the superintendent, but for all of those (and there were a bunch) offering very confrontational and highly uncivil testimony at the school board meeting last night. This was the first school board meeting I have ever attended, and frankly, it [...]
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  Posted: September 21, 2006, 8:49am EDT
  by Roy Smith

• Viaduct Cost Update

  PEOPLE’S WATERFRONT COALITION
  CITIZENS FOR A HIGHWAY-FREE SHORE
  
  Dear Friends,
  
  What a week!
  The new cost estimates released today put any new shore highway, whether tunnel or elevated, out of reach. The tunnel plan is extravagantly expensive -- $5.5 billion for the Core project, and WSDOT didn’t even [...]
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  Posted: September 21, 2006, 10:14pm EDT
  by Roy Smith

• Foolishness, Part 2

  The Superintendent has recommended co-location of AS#1 and Summit K-12. (Read about it here.) There are a number of reasons that this is not a great idea in terms of promoting educational quality. One of the bad ideas is the apparent institutional hostility the district has against small schools. [...]
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  Posted: September 18, 2006, 11:00am EDT
  by Roy Smith

• School District Foolishness

  Although not officially confirmed, the Seattle school superintendent is apparently considering a plan to move AS#1 to the same site as Summit K-12 and colocate (though apparently not combine) the two schools. As the Seattle PI reported, yesterday there was a meeting to discuss this possibility (AS No. 1 [...]
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  Posted: September 15, 2006, 9:34am EDT
  by Roy Smith

• Get Paid to Stop Driving Alone

  The City of Seattle has this Commuter Cash program to incentivize alternatives to commuting in a single occupancy vehicle. If you currently drive alone to work, you can get up to $150 by using alternative commuting options. If you are interested please visit the website, and if you sign [...]
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  Posted: September 13, 2006, 10:49am EDT
  by Roy Smith

• Speak Up for Rational Transportation Planning

  Sound Transit is now soliciting public input for the next phase of Sound Transit expansion in central Puget Sound. They have a number of good proposals, and one horrendously bad idea: the notion that the we will have to vote on a combined "Roads and Transit" package in [...]
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  Posted: September 08, 2006, 4:09pm EDT
  by Roy Smith

• For those in Portland

  Press release from Carpoolcrew.com

  9/8/06
  FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
  New Portland Based Carpool Website Aims to Help Ease Nation's Gas Pains
  
  Nationwide, gas prices are dipping after the end of the peak driving season. While this temporary relief may sound like good news, media reports and polls indicate many [...]

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  Posted: September 08, 2006, 4:08pm EDT
  by Roy Smith

• For those in Pierce County

  On October 7, check out the Tahoma Progressive Media Conference (see info below).
  
  From the point of view of a Seattle resident, it is great to see events like this happening. Up here, Pierce County has a reputation for being a little less progressive than King County, so [...]
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  Posted: September 08, 2006, 4:07pm EDT
  by Roy Smith

• Philosophical Thoughts

  I am on vacation this week, so I haven't been really keeping up on the news, so I have little in the way of currents events to comment about. However, I ran across this quote (which I philosophized about in a blog I used to keep in former times), and [...]
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  Posted: September 01, 2006, 8:48pm EDT
  by Roy Smith

• Primary Election Endorsements

  My ballot arrived in the mail today, so here is my final list of endorsements for the Primary election. Election day is September 19th, so ensure you have voted and/or your ballot is postmarked by then.
  
  U.S. Senator: Hong Tran.

  As I have stated before, I think she is unlikely [...]

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  Posted: August 31, 2006, 3:59pm EDT
  by Roy Smith