gdp's Comments

KOMO - Seattle, WA : SPD’s “Operation Wafer-Thin” shuts down Honduran drug ring downtown | Crime | Down

Fri, 13 Jul 2012 16:25:59 +0000

Two dozen drug dealers... They could easily find that many to arrest just by walking down third ave through the ride free zone at any time of the day with their eyes open.

KOMO - Seattle, WA : Alligator bites off swimming teen\'s arm in Florida | National & World News | Seattle News, Weather,

Tue, 10 Jul 2012 20:24:15 +0000

There was a story about a year ago of a bull shark that killed someone in Ohio. The damn thing swam 1,700 miles up the Mississippi river. Pretty insane for a salt water hunter to be able to adapt to fresh water like that.

KOMO - Seattle, WA : The Schrammie: Waiting for marijuana \'clarity\' in Everett | Ken Schram | Seattle News, Weather, Sp

Wed, 20 Jun 2012 19:33:01 +0000

You are close with your reasoning as to why MJ is included as a Schedule 1 drug. A large percentage of prisons are run by private companies that have a virtual monopoly on incarcerations and they give substantial donations to elected officials to keep the revolving doors of the prison system with drug crimes. It also has a lot to do with the fact that drugs such as morpheine, codeine and oxycontin are all produced by the pharmaceutical industry. Weed can be grown by anyone in their back yard. If you were able to give someone the option between an expensive prescription or growing their own medicine, how much of an impact do you think that would have on the profits of big pharma companies? And oh yeah, they give pretty heavily to elected officials as well.

KOMO - Seattle, WA : The Schrammie: Waiting for marijuana \'clarity\' in Everett | Ken Schram | Seattle News, Weather, Sp

Wed, 20 Jun 2012 19:22:15 +0000

I believe that "yeahright" might be referring to the constitutional limitations on the federal government's powers as the "start". Obviously, the feds powers have continually expanded over the years whenever they see fit.

KOMO - Seattle, WA : Dad won\'t face charges in alleged attacker\'s death | National & World News | Seattle News, Weather

Wed, 20 Jun 2012 16:31:08 +0000

Look up the kids that murdered the Tuba Man. I know they went through the juvenile system, but they have all had repeated run-ins with the law since they received a mere slap on the wrist for savagely beating someone to death, for kicks. There was also a recent case in snohomish county where a homeowner found someone trying to steal his boat motor and confronted him. When that man attacked him and the homeowner defended himself with deadly force, he was arrested for man slaughter.

KOMO - Seattle, WA : Port: New Seattle sports arena a \'job killer\' | Local & Regional | Seattle News, Weather, Sports,

Wed, 20 Jun 2012 16:09:18 +0000

I'm also confused. Has the POS been able to explain where they think all of the additional business they are mentioning is going to be coming from? 7,000 to 11,000 daily truck trips is a HUGE increase in volume. Are the port facilities even designed to be able to handle that sort of increase? And finally, (from my soap box) why is it so important to have more trucks to handle any additional volume at the port when they already have a vast network of rail lines that run right through that area? I can't imagine that all of the cargo coming into the POS is for local consumption, so put the containers on a rail car and get them to where they need to go much more cheaply and with a far smaller impact on the current infrastructure and without causing all of the related traffic headaches. I can't be the only person to feel this way.

KOMO - Seattle, WA : Edmonds police officer arrested after allegation of sex on duty | Local & Regional | Seattle News, W

Thu, 7 Jun 2012 21:17:16 +0000

Congratulations! It sounds like you and your husband are both VERY lucky.

KOMO - Seattle, WA : Farm bill clears first hurdle in Senate | National & World News | Seattle News, Weather, Sports, Bre

Thu, 7 Jun 2012 19:00:37 +0000

We need single purpose bills. No more tack on legislation.

KOMO - Seattle, WA : Just days after liquor privatization, some drinkers feeling buyer\'s remorse | Local & Regional | Se

Thu, 7 Jun 2012 18:38:39 +0000

You nailed it when you said that it is the wild west. The distributors used to be limited by the LCB as to what they could mark-up the product and had a virtual monopoly on the business. Now, there is the possiblity of competition (which is why they opposed the initiative in the first place). They have jacked their prices up by approximately 50% in hopes of quickly recovering the money they spent opposing this initiative prior to the competition forcing them to lower their prices to the retailers if they want to stay in business. Price gouging is beautiful.

KOMO - Seattle, WA : Some liquor buyers now heading to Oregon for better deals | Local & Regional | Seattle News, Weather

Wed, 6 Jun 2012 22:00:37 +0000

The problem is not with the taxes. The problem is with the distributors that have jacked their prices by about 50 - 60% and the liquor control board that is trying to get even with the people for taking away their power. http://www.wrahome.com/news/wra-sheds-light-on-ad...

KOMO - Seattle, WA : Obama win could cost Romney $5 million in taxes | National & World News | Seattle News, Weather, Spo

Mon, 4 Jun 2012 21:19:53 +0000

As Orcas noted, wages have not kept up with inflation over the last several decades and we have not changed that trajectory. Add to that the fact that total compensation has steadily decreased (not even considering the impact of inflation) as employers no longer offer pensions and employees are being forced to cover a larger and larger portion of their benefits costs and you wind up with a huge amount of downward pressure on the middle class. You state that more people have invested in stocks then ever before, that is only because they have no choice other than to put their money into that gamed system in order to have some hope for retirement. We are not better off and until the general populous pulls their heads out of their posteriors and starts paying attention to the abuses that exist within our political system, we can only expect a continued degradation of the middle class.

KOMO - Seattle, WA : Obama win could cost Romney $5 million in taxes | National & World News | Seattle News, Weather, Spo

Mon, 4 Jun 2012 21:12:18 +0000

I'm pretty sure that LDS actually obtains income statements from church members and bills them 10%. So if Romney is donating 10% of his income to "charity", he is not doing anything charitable.

KOMO - Seattle, WA : Obama win could cost Romney $5 million in taxes | National & World News | Seattle News, Weather, Spo

Mon, 4 Jun 2012 21:07:02 +0000

Why is it the government's responsibility to incentivize people to buy houses or have kids? We need tax reform in a major way and taxes need to stop being used for social engineering or worse, political kick-backs to contributors. Here's a thought: If corporations are so attached to the idea of corporate personhood, maybe we do away with the sections of the tax code that deal specifically with special treatment of corporate expenses and make companies subject to all of the same rules that individuals are subject to?

KOMO - Seattle, WA : Parents of girl shot at school: \'Where is the justice?\' | Local & Regional | Seattle News, Weather

Tue, 15 May 2012 21:19:22 +0000

Responsible and criminally liable are two hugely different conclusions to reach. I'm not sure where I stand in this case as there was clearly enough to try the parents for reckless endangerment due to all of the loaded and unsecured weapons lying around within reach of their child, but I still think that the prosecutor may have been reaching to try the parents for the girl getting shot.

KOMO - Seattle, WA : West Coast spike in gas prices tied to refineries | Local & Regional | Seattle News, Weather, Sports

Tue, 15 May 2012 16:31:10 +0000

Exactly. The oil companies learned a huge lesson in the mid 2000's as the speculators pushed the price of a barrell way above $100 for the first time in history. What they learned is that demand for oil is a lot less elastic than they thought is was and their profits skyrocketed. Hence, they have done a very fine job of keeping the government out of the CME and keeping the price of a barrell artificially higher than supply should dictate.

KOMO - Seattle, WA : Guinness recognizes surfer for riding 78-foot wave | Offbeat | Seattle News, Weather, Sports, Breaki

Fri, 11 May 2012 16:34:40 +0000

It's right here. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nd2jtwviyC8 I can't even imagine what it must feel like to get burried by a wave that big. No wonder he didn't want to ride that day.

KOMO - Seattle, WA : Guinness recognizes surfer for riding 78-foot wave | Offbeat | Seattle News, Weather, Sports, Breaki

Fri, 11 May 2012 16:21:34 +0000

Amazing still, but where is the link to the video?

KOMO - Seattle, WA : Seattle mansion dwellers charged in welfare fraud | Local & Regional | Seattle News, Weather, Sports

Wed, 9 May 2012 22:21:26 +0000

I think this is a case of "Pigs get fat, Hogs get slaughtered." This way, the government can claim that they are actually paying attention while letting an awful lot of fraud slip through the cracks.

KOMO - Seattle, WA : Seattle mansion dwellers charged in welfare fraud | Local & Regional | Seattle News, Weather, Sports

Wed, 9 May 2012 22:19:54 +0000

My ex-wife worked in a pediatrics office that had a majority of their patients on Medicaid. You would be surprised how often this happens. People come to this country and claim that they are not married so that the wife is able to claim all of this government assistance while the husband makes a decent living at Microsoft or some other employer utilizing the H1b visa program. Makes you wonder why this couple is the only case that we have heard about.

KOMO - Seattle, WA : Woman who tossed winning lotto ticket entitled to $1 million | National & World News | Seattle News,

Wed, 2 May 2012 18:59:33 +0000

I am also curious about the line, "The judge instructed the winning side to write the judgment for his signature, and it will become official once Hughes signs it." Is this common practice in our legal system? How is it that the judge can explain the legal basis for his decision if he is not writing the legal opinion himself?