Washington State Ferries Map

Most of the ferries in the Washington State system are named after Native American names (except the MV Evergreen State, MV Rhododendron, and MV Hiyu). Some of these are people, some are places, but either way they're tied to a location in the state.



The different text sizes correspond to the size of the ferries. Font size equals number of cars divided by ten, more or less. Click on the map to see the image full size and thus the small names.

Federal Lands Unconstitutional?

Have a look at this pre-filed bill in the Washington State Legislature for next year's session. Basically, it says that the federal government is constitutionally prohibited from owning land in the state of Washington without the state's consent, so the state is taking it back.

Oddly enough, I had this very idea a few months ago, as a way to curb the federal government's power. All states should do this.

But I doubt this bill will ever see the light of day. It will probably be "x-filed" or lost in a subcomittee for all time.

Beijing, part 12: 798 Art District

We headed into the 'burbs to the 798 Art District, which used to be an industrial area, but was repurposed by the government. The concept of a centrally planned art district is just wrong, if you ask me. The government says, "Here. Take this old factory. You go here. You go there. Be creative in your little box."

Dominating one courtyard was a set of sculptures -- many wolves around one swordsman.











We wandered around, not quite sure which gallery to see first.

This is one of the first galleries we went in. It didn't have any "no photo" signs...


I tried to take a photo of the next gallery -- the room, mind you, like above, and not a specific painting -- and I get a "No photos" from a worker. I can understand them not wanting someone to reproduce one of their paintings without permission, but to block a photo of the whole space? Petty security-guard nonsense.

Even if I were to photograph a painting, it's still not the real thing. If I diseminate the image widely, it's free advertising! But they want control, not fame and money.

A tshirt shop had three signs around the door proclaiming "No photos." One of the signs even said they'd fine you 100 yuan ($15) for taking a picture. Really? On what authority? Is this a law? Does it apply to the tshirts visible from the sidewalk?

They're afraid of someone stealing their ideas, but their ideas are so basic that I wouldn't need a photo to reproduce them: Obama dressed as Mao, etc. Let others make similar tshirts and let the competition begin!

So I took photos of the old buildings and a restaurant's lanterns.


And Chunlin, of course.


And random bits of architecture.


And the sculpture arrayed along the sidewalks.


We sat for a while in an exhibit called "Kids" -- paintings of children from around the world, by one artist. The set in front of us was entitled "Health Disease Happiness Sadness Grow-Up Death Homeland Rangers." Of eighteen portraits, only one or two look happy. The vast majority look miserable. If you put balance in your title, your art work should have balance.

The silkwork in one gallery was very nice. The musculature on the horses -- done in thread -- looked real. A black cat disappearing into the darkness. Expensive, of course. Everything's for sale -- but you've got to go to China if you want to see it because free advertising is out of the question.

New Hobby

My new hobby is looking at the WSDOT traffic cameras on I-5 to see what the speed limit is currently...

Increased Density near Light Rail Stations

After visiting Shanghai and Beijing, I have realized that Seattle is a small town. I have further realized that our light rail system is a joke.

This can be fixed, however.

The main reason I consider Seattle's Link Light Rail a joke is that we don't have the density to support a mass transit system of that nature. Therefore I propose to massively increase the building heights around each light rail station so they become the satellite downtowns they should be. Imagine a mini-Belltown at each station, and you're getting the idea.

In the late 1990s, while the light rail was in design, neighborhoods along the route asked the city council for zoning changes to suit their new stations. Unfortunately, they thought small. They made minor changes to make the streets more pedestrian friendly, but left the building heights alone. Thus at the Rainier Beach station, for example, the maximum building height is 40 feet adjacent to the light rail station! In my plan, these parcels could have twenty-story highrises.

If we have light rail, we need to encourage people to use it. What better way than have a whole bunch of people live across the street from each station? Sound Transit could then expand the number of cars in each train and the frequency of trains and pretty soon we have something resembling a city.

A bit more detail:

The stations are all in an "Urban Village" designated neighborhood, of one sort or another. Some are Residential Urban Villages; some are Hub Urban Villages; some are Urban Core Villages, and two are in a designated industrial area. Each of these circumstances should be treated differently.

Since downtown Seattle itself is an Urban Core, those "villages" would have the most intensive zoning. Zoning would be mixed residential and commercial, similar to Belltown. Urban Cores include the International District, Pioneer Square, Downtown, Capitol Hill, both Univerity District stations, and Northgate. Parcels within a quarter-mile walking distance of the station (staying on public roads and walkways), building heights would be unlimited. Within a third of a mile walking distance, building heights could be limited to 240'. Within a half mile walking distance, the maximum height would be 125'. The rest of an Urban Core Village with a light rail station would be limited to 85'.

Mind you, downtown's Urban Core already has higher limits, so those could stay as-is. Pioneer Square and the International District Urban Cores have special zones, so I would propose modifying the heights in those rather than throwing out all the design characteristics included in those. I want neighborhoods to retain their individuality, just with more people.

The Hub Urban Villages would be slightly smaller in scale, with all of the height requirements shifting inward by one step. Of the existing line and the North Link (in design), only Mount Baker is a Hub Urban Village, but Lake City, Fremont, and Ballard would fall in this category if they receive stations in the future.

The Residential Urban Villages would be slightly smaller again than the Hub Urban Villages. These would include Rainier Beach, Othello/Holly, Columbia City, Beacon Hill, and Roosevelt. Parcels adjacent to the station would have mixed-use zoning with a height limit of 240'. Parcels within a quarter-mile walk would be mixed use with 125' maximum height. Within a third of a mile, buildings could be 85', and would be zoned either commercial or residential depending on their existing zoning. Within a half mile walk, buildings could be 65' high, zoned per the existing use. The remainder of the Residential Urban Village would be either Midrise or Neighborhood Commercial.

One problem, however, is that many of the light rail stations are at the periphery of their Urban Villages. Just a couple hundred feet from the Rainier Beach station, for example, is single-family housing outside the Urban Village. This is an inefficient and stressful juxtaposition.

I propose upzoning a "buffer zone" around the stations, in a similar stepping pattern as listed above. The fact that these streets are outside the Urban Villages should be honored, however. Instead of drastically altering the zoning to mixed-use, the current zoning for each parcel would instead be modified. Within a quarter-mile walk of the station, the density of each parcel would quadruple. Within a third of a mile, the density would triple. Within a half-mile walk, the density would double.

Thus a Single-Family 5000 S.F. zone very close to a station would become a street of Lowrise 2 zone, which doesn't allow much taller structures, but does allow more units on a property. This would be a minimally invasive rezone of a neighborhood outside the Urban Village, but still allow more people to live within walking distance of the light rail station.

That about wraps it up. Increase the housing supply in Seattle. More affordable housing. More people using the silly train we're already paying for. Provide more freedom to property owners. All that good stuff.

Now I just need to get the mayor's attention.

Tax Day

We sent some more money to our Imperial Overlords this morning, along with a lot of bureaucratic paperwork (electronic).

Yay.

At least we didn't need a refund. We're pretty consistent about that.

Duke vs. Butler

I must say I'm quite pleased that the final two teams in the NCAA Division I Men's Basketball Tournament are two private colleges and not government-owned teams like most of the rest of the Elite Eight.

Who Needs Personal Responsibility?

I thought I got enough sleep this weekend to counter the start of "Daylight Savings," but alas I'm very tired today.

Perhaps my protracted case of a runny nose has something to do with it, or my food poisoning strike on Saturday, but I prefer to blame the government.

I certainly didn't get sick because I hadn't been excercising as often as I should, lately. Nah.

National Jet-Lag Day Is Coming!

I glance at my calendar, and what do I see upon the 14th?

"Daylight Savings Begins"!!!

Why, oh Imperial Overlords, why?? Why must you torture us like so?

Next on the List

With the Pinehurst house finally rented, I can now focus on other things, like income taxes!

Or maybe that can wait a little while, too. . .

Hooray for Google!

Google will no longer be conspiring with the totalitarian regime in China to censor web searches. Finally! I guess Google isn't evil, after all.

(As I sit here and use a free service provided by Google. . .)

North Dakota Still Looks Good

A year ago, I drew up a little map showing the unemployment rate in each state.

Here's another one, with the same color scheme:



Green states have unemployment below 4% (none in Sept. '09).
Olive states have unemployment between 4% and 5%.
Yellow states have unemployment between 5% and 6% (none in Sept. '09).
Maroon states have unemployment between 6% and 7%.
Red states have unemployment between 7% and 8%.
Magenta states have unemployment above 8%.

Things don't look so good this year, huh?

What should the government do? Perhaps they should take money away from citizens when the citizens need it most and also make it difficult for business owners to hire new employees? Does that sound good? What, no? Because that's what we're doing. . .

Private Division I FBS Universities

Only a few of the universities participating in NCAA's Division I FBS (previously I-A) are privately owned. Most are state-owned or controlled (and three are military-controlled).

Next time you're watching college football, consider the fact that all the teams except the seventeen listed below are government-run, paid for by tax dollars.

Baylor
Boston College
Brigham Young
Duke
Miami (Florida)
Northwestern
Notre Dame
Rice
Southern California
Southern Methodist
Stanford
Syracuse
Texas Christian
Tulane
Tulsa
Vanderbilt
Wake Forest

Politics, Religion, etc.

The larger the organization, the inherently less I trust it.

The Government Has Gone Beyond Wasting Money

Our federal government's number one priority is to destroy anything useful.

The so-called Cash for "Clunkers" program is not just buying used cars with out tax dollars, it's not just turning them to scrap metal, it's making it impossible to re-use any piece of the car or its engine!

From the WSJ:

To receive government reimbursement, auto dealers who offer rebates on new cars in exchange for so-called clunkers must agree to "kill" the old models, using a method the government outlines in great detail in its 136-page manual for dealers: Drain the engine of oil and replace it with two quarts of a sodium-silicate solution.

[...]

The automotive death sentences are meant to ensure that gas-guzzling old models make no return to the road. As sodium silicate disables an entire generation of junkyard-bound cars, the price of used engines will likely skyrocket, predicts Michael Wilson, executive vice president of the Automotive Recyclers Association. "It's the law of supply and demand."

[...]

To engines, however, its damage is irreversible. "Once that silicate plugs everything up, it would be virtually impossible to clean that engine out," says Mr. Burton, the Kansas City service manager.

Bill of Rights [Revised]

Amendment I
Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the government for a redress of grievances.

Amendment II
A well regulated militia, being necessary to the security of a free state, the right of the people to keep and bear arms, shall not be infringed.

Amendment III
No soldier shall, in time of peace be quartered in any house, without the consent of the owner, nor in time of war, but in a manner to be prescribed by law.

Amendment IV
The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be violated, and no warrants shall issue, but upon probable cause, supported by oath or affirmation, and particularly describing the place to be searched, and the persons or things to be seized.

Amendment V
No person shall be held to answer for a capital, or otherwise infamous crime, unless on a presentment or indictment of a grand jury, except in cases arising in the land or naval forces, or in the militia, when in actual service in time of war or public danger; nor shall any person be subject for the same offense to be twice put in jeopardy of life or limb; nor shall be compelled in any criminal case to be a witness against himself, nor be deprived of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law; nor shall private property be taken for public use, without just compensation.

Amendment VI
In all criminal prosecutions, the accused shall enjoy the right to a speedy and public trial, by an impartial jury of the state and district wherein the crime shall have been committed, which district shall have been previously ascertained by law, and to be informed of the nature and cause of the accusation; to be confronted with the witnesses against him; to have compulsory process for obtaining witnesses in his favor, and to have the assistance of counsel for his defense.

Amendment VII
In suits at common law, where the value in controversy shall exceed twenty dollars, the right of trial by jury shall be preserved, and no fact tried by a jury, shall be otherwise reexamined in any court of the United States, than according to the rules of the common law.

Amendment VIII
Excessive bail shall not be required, nor excessive fines imposed, nor cruel and unusual punishments inflicted.

Amendment IX
The enumeration in the Constitution, of certain rights, shall not be construed to deny or disparage others retained by the people.

Amendment X
The powers not delegated to the United States by the Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the states, are reserved to the states respectively, or to the people.

Any further edits?

Paula Abdul for Supreme Court Justice!

link

16th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution

AMENDMENT XVI

Passed by Congress July 2, 1909. Ratified February 3, 1913.

Note: Article I, section 9, of the Constitution was modified by amendment 16.

The Congress shall have power to lay and collect taxes on incomes, from whatever source derived, without apportionment among the several States, and without regard to any census or enumeration.

Curses! What were they thinking??

WA

WA is for Western Australia.
Wa. and Wash. are for Washington.

Don't believe the federal government. What do they know?

Only use WA for Washington when mailing a letter via the United States Postal Service, because that's their rule.

Also, USPS made up ZIP codes for their own convenience, so why should we use them any other time?

Unbuilt Highways

In Washington, there are several highways "on the books" that have yet to be built. Most of these will not be constructed before I get to their numbers because the Department of Transportation has no plans to build them.

SR 35: Created in 1995 and meant to be a short connecter across the Columbia River near White Salmon, Highway 35 would align with Oregon Route 35. A study was completed, but the bridge was never built. WSDOT does not list it among their projects.

SR 109: The northern third, from Taholah to Queets, has yet to be built. I believe this is because of jurisdictional issues with the Quinault Tribe. It's been listed since 1970, when the state renumbered its highways. WSDOT does not list its completion among their projects.

SR 168: This route has been talked about for ages, since before 1970. It's a highway over Naches Pass, bascially an all-weather shortcut for SR 410. Not only does Chinook Pass close in the winter, Highway 410 goes through Mount Rainier National Park, which doesn't allow commercial trucks. Despite the traffic that this road would alleviate from I-90, WSDOT does not list it among their projects.

SR 171: The Moses Lake portion of this highway exists (as city streets), but the much longer portion heading to Odessa has not been built, even though it's been listed since the restructuring of 1970. WSDOT does not list its completion among their projects.

SR 213: This route was defined in 1973, but has yet to be built. It would be a connection from SR 20 southward to US 97, south of Okanogan. Currently, there are county roads in that area that do the job. WSDOT does not list it among their projects. [UPDATE: The bridge across the Okanogan River connecting US 97 to Malott is now maintained by WSDOT and officially SR 213, even though it is unsigned as such.]

SR 230: This would be a wonderful new highway heading due east from I-90 at Ritzville. It would be a quicker, safer way to get to Pullman and WSU from Seattle than the current popular route of SR 26. Even though it's been legislated since 1970, WSDOT does not list it among their projects.

SR 276: Created in 1973 to be a bypass around the northern side of Pullman and WSU, this road has not been built, even though WSDOT bought the necessary rights-of-way for the route. Perhaps WSDOT has an institutional grudge against WSU. In Feburary 2007, WSDOT completed a routing development plan with the community's input, which doesn't quite make sense to me since they already have the land for the route. WSDOT does not list any plans to actually build the highway.

SR 339: This route was legislated in 1994 and still exists, sort of. It's the passenger-only ferry from Seattle to Vashon. King County now pays the state to operate the route, which makes it the equivalent of a county road that the county pays the state to maintain. Presumably the legislature will remove this route from their books, but that bill hasn't been introduced yet this term.

SR 501: The south and north ends of this highway have been constructed, in Vancouver and Ridgefield, but four miles along the Columbia River have yet to be built. WSDOT actually built part of the connecting highway already, but it doesn't go as far as the old highway, so the old highway still is the official route, and it gets shorter every time the river washes a section of it away. The route has been on the books since 1970 at least. Nowadays, however, Google Maps shows Highway 501 relocated to some county roads closer to I-5, but nothing from WSDOT or the legislature shows this change. WSDOT does not list any plans to complete this highway.

SR 704: This is the famed cross-base highway, legislated in 2002. WSDOT is finally beginning construction on it, but they haven't made it very far yet. As of today, they've made some improvements to a half-mile existing street, but won't finish that short stretch till this summer. Since only 13.5% of the full project has been funded, I wonder if it ever will be finished. With that amount of money, they might be able to make it another half mile. [UPDATE: The eastern 1/2 mile of this route ("Phase 1") is now open for traffic and signed as SR 704, even though it's just a widening of an existing road.]