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Tacoma has been implementing policies that are touted as eco-friendly for a while now. Some of them have come around to bite them, mostly in the form of higher costs or lost revenues (for the city and for businesses in the city). Another consequence of their il-conceived policies has reared it’s ugly head.

One of the major problems with these new policies is that they’re trying to force a supposedly ‘new way of thinking’ into existing environments. In this case they are encouraging multi-story mixed-use buildings (residential combined with commercial, such as retail) by giving tax breaks to developers. And without thought of the consequences the city has allowed these buildings with large reflective exterior surfaces to be built next to existing houses.

The consequence: sunlight is concentrated on existing houses causing the interior to heat up.

Some might think this is an acceptable consequence to protect the planet from its evil nemesis ‘urban sprawl’, but if you’re sitting in a solar roaster that was once a comfortable rambler, it ain’t so cool.
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Wired magazine, known for it’s zealous focus on the latest crazes, takes a look at the latest environmental craze and what people think they should do about it. They don’t actually look at the validity of the anthropogenic issue or the dire consequences debate, but at least they add a little bit of objectivity to the climate of climate change.

Putting aside the absolute lie known as ‘the coming ice age’. And ignoring the food shortages and high prices caused by biofuel mandates, not to mention the slashing and burning of rain forest in Brazil because of their extremely high biofuel mandates. And forget for a moment the economic impact on the timber industry because so-called scientists failed to realize that spotted owls will fornicate anywhere (they just happen to prefer old growth forests the way hippies prefer rock concerts). The list goes on, but lets ignore all that for the moment. I’m starting to wonder which will be the next abject failure of the environmentalist movement.

I’m addressing this to the local liberal set who go crazy over the crazes. Since they’re like most liberals they never really think things through. Let’s hope that this gets them thinking instead of reacting to whatever bright ideas blow their way.
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I just want to take a moment in grateful remembrance of those who have fallen in defense of our country and our freedom. For those who have loved ones who have made the ultimate sacrifice to keep all of us free and safe I hope you know that most Americans share the gratitude and the sorrow for your loss.

They will not be forgotten.

As a Christian minister I am keenly aware that those who have fought and are fighting to defend us are protecting each individual’s freedom to worship as each believes to be right. The freedom that I consider so vital is protected by those who have defended our country in the past and especially by those who are fighting in the War on Terrorism and it’s front lines in Afghanistan and Iraq..

Like enemies of the past our current enemies seek world domination. But what’s unique about these is that they do so in the name of their religion. Their religion seeks to subjugate or destroy all other faiths. I don’t know of a time in our nation’s history when freedom of religion was at greater risk.

While the freedom of religion is especially important to me, I am also grateful for all of the other freedoms that I enjoy.

A couple of important posts on NewsBusters.Org.

First, a post about negative media coverage hurting the economy:

BMI’s Gainor: Media Negativity on Economy Hurts Consumer Confidence

Dan Gainor, Vice President for the Business & Media Institute, blamed part of people’s gloomy perception of the economy on the “constant drumbeat” of negativity coming from the news media.

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Recently a commenter on this site asked me how I defined ‘a conservative’. I didn’t respond because it’s not up to me to define it.

Something liberals seldom understand is that words have meaning. If we try to change the meaning of a word we end up misrepresenting something or someone, which is usually tantamount to a lie.

That being said, I guess a definition of ‘a conservative’ is in order. Simply put, and pardon me for pulling a Webster and using another form of a word to define that word, a conservative is someone who holds to conservative principles.

An easy mistake that is made is to confuse conservative principles with the issues of the day. Another is to refer to someone as a conservative who only holds some of those principles while rejecting others.

What are those conservative principles? America has a somewhat unique set of principles that make up the ideals that we want to conserve. The individual principles are not unique, but together they are uniquely American.
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There’s another conservative in Western Washington who has entered the blogosphere.

Living in this area with a vocal liberal minority can be tough on conservatives. Liberals have trouble understanding that conservatives are not the drooling idiots portrayed by liberals on television. Those are a figment of the imaginations of intolerant leftists who would rather shout-down their opposition than offer a reasoned response.

So when a conservative stands up and offers a reasoned argument on a local issue, several liberals will seem to go into some sort of spasmodic rage. I know they can’t help it. Even college educated liberals have never had to face any opposition to their ideals. Facing a conservative must be something akin to first contact with an alien species.

So I’d like to welcome Red Country - Washington State to the battlefield of ideas in Puget Sound. I’ve added the site to my blogroll so you can find it anytime.

There’s a lot to be learned from economic bubbles. Have you ever stopped to think about who it is that actually blows the bubble in the first place?

Whenever there’s money to be made the ‘used car salesmen’ show up trying to get their mitts on some of the cash that’s floating around. Since they’re seldom able to add any real value to what’s happening (no real business skills, no tech skills, etc.) they find places to apply what little skill they do have.

The skill I’m talking about is a combination of emotionally manipulative banter and a lack of scruples. It’s the skills that created the stereotype that comes to mind when used car salesmen are mentioned.

Unfortunately, people with that ’skill’ aren’t restricted to peddling cars for a living. They’ll push any wares that are attractive to or needed by a large and ignorant audience. You’ll find them anywhere that you can find a lot of people willing to buy something that they don’t completely understand.
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Is this what conservatives have needed? A few techno-conservatives have banded together to create a new site called ‘The NextRight‘ that they hope will shift the center of gravity on the Internet back toward the political right (h/t NewsBusters.Org). Here’s what they say about what they’re planning:

The Next Right is the place for wired activists to build a new Republican Party and conservative movement. As a community-driven grassroots action website for the right, we’ll feature in-depth political analysis, on-the-ground reports, and strategic discussion and debate.

Sounds cool to me. It sounds like they’re on the right track (pardon the pun), but many questions remain.

Will they be able to provide the tools to make it happen? Will anyone want to use the tools? Will anyone (such as the McCain campaign) try to exploit it for votes? Will real conservatives find a home there or is it just another attempt by RINO’s to sport their fake conservative credentials?
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Tacoma’s city council, Economic Development Board and some special interest groups continue to cling to failing fantasies of a financial district in downtown Tacoma. All the while they’re wasting taxpayer money and letting opportunities slip through their fingers.

There have been so many warnings they can’t even be referred to as harbingers anymore. The list of businesses that have left Tacoma is long and represents thousands of jobs. The latest company to announce their intent to depart is Davita, a health services company that has a data processing center in downtown Tacoma.

The dream has been to build a financial services district in downtown Tacoma, and with that comes a number of other exploits that are supposed to build the kind of atmosphere that will attract the kind of companies that these people are looking for. The problem is that the people in charge of our tax dollars can’t tell the difference between a good idea and a bad idea.
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MoveRed.org, a group of young Seattle Republicans (sponsored by KCGOP) captured these dramatic, life-changing events in Bellevue, WA at the offices of Sen. Patty Murray.

Funny Video: MoveOn.org vs. Senator Patty Murray

If you watch closely you might see the senator’s security detail rushing her to safety. Surrounded by her guards you can only see her white sneakers scurrying away. (Just kidding. I’m sure she was at some other protest or an important subcommittee meeting with her mentor, former KKK leader Sheets Byrd.  Or maybe she was touring one of Osama Bin Laden’s hospitals or daycare facilities.)