Seattle’s mayor had a plan to do away with single-family homes

Did you know that single-family homes are a root cause of America’s racial and economic inequality?

That’s what Seattle’s socialist mayor Ed Murray, a Democrat, thinks.

Murray’s housing task force, the 28-member Housing Affordability and Livability Agenda (HALA) Advisory Committee, drafted a plan to do away with the city’s single-family zoning in the name of liberals’ favorite cause, “social justice.”

A reporter for Seattle Times obtained a copy of the draft.
Danny Westneat reports for Seattle Times, July 7, 2015:

I got my hands on the draft policy ideas that Mayor Ed Murray’s advisory committee on housing is working on. And they are some of the most sweeping changes in the way Seattle lives and grows ever proposed around here.
Most dramatically, the committee is considering a recommendation to do away with single-family zoning….
“We can still be a city for everyone, but only if we give up our outdated ideal of every family living in their own home on a 5,000 square foot lot,” a draft letter from the committee co-chairs reads.
The draft report notes that “Seattle (single-family) zoning has roots in racial and class exclusion and remains among the largest obstacles to realizing the city’s goals for equity and affordability.”

The committee of citizen volunteers voted 19-3 to recommend replacing single-family zoning with a “lower density residential zone” that would allow duplexes, triplexes, rooming houses and more backyard cottages and mother-in-law units in areas now dominated by single houses on lots with a yard. It’s unclear how much of the city this would include.

Later, the committee co-chairs issued a statement saying the group “has no intention of recommending the elimination of all single family zones in the city.” But the draft report suggests the committee was considering exactly that.

“In fact, (the committee) recommends we abandon the term ‘single family zone,’ ” the draft reads.
An overview letter calls for higher density essentially everywhere in the city.
“More 6-story buildings where there were 4 stories before, more 7-story buildings where there were 6-stories before, and more multifamily housing of all types in areas currently zoned for less density inside (neighborhoods designated as) Urban Villages,” the letter says.
The draft says the changes are necessary because “we are currently confronted by the reality of more dollars chasing a limited supply of housing than ever before in our history.”

Reacting to Seattle Times‘ report on the draft, Faith Li Pettis and David Wertheimer, the co-chairs of the HALA, wrote this email to the reporter, Danny Westneat :

“My co-chair and I are very disappointed that you and The Seattle Timeshave chosen to undermine the efforts of the HALA, a citizen advisory group, by prematurely releasing an unapproved draft of our report.”

The committee had a July 13 deadline to submit its final report. The scheduled meeting of the advisory committee that day was not open to the public. But then communist party meetings are never open to the public. /sarc

In the end, thanks to Seattle Times‘ article, Ed Murray’s housing advisory committee backed away from its proposal to do away with single-family zoning. Instead, the committee recommends a code change that permits “smaller, efficient dwellings to be built on existing Single Family lots if an owner chooses to do so.” Read more here.

For the HALA advisory committee’s final report, click here. For the names and identities of the committee’s 28 members, click here.

Wikipedia says mayor Ed Murray, 60, is a Democrat, Irish Catholic, “gay,” with a spouse named Michael Shiosaki.

Update:

In typical liberal “Do as I say, not as I do” fashion, mayor Ed Murray and a co-chair of the housing advisory committee both live in upscale single-family homes. I found their addresses by using a people search engine, then looked up their homes on Zillow.

Zillow describes the home of Ed Murray and “husband” Michael Shiosaki, estimated at $784,452, as a 1920 square-foot single-family home with 3 bedrooms and 1.5 bathrooms. Here’s what it looks like:



Zillow describes Faith Li Pettis’ home, estimated at $1,791,947, as a 3920 square-foot single-family home, with 5 bedrooms and 3 bathrooms. Pettis is an attorney and partner of Pacific Law Group. Here’s a pic:



The committee’s other co-chair, David Wertheimer, who works in the “philanthropic sector,” lives in a 3bd/2.5 bath loft condo in Seattle’s exclusive, quiet Capitol Hill area.Zillow estimates the condo to be $588,550 and describes it as having a 2-car garage with outdoor patio and entertainment space.

~Éowyn
Dr. Éowyn’s post first appeared at Fellowship of the Minds.

source/

The John Kerry Chronicles Two Stories: One On Stupidity And One On Treachery

JOHN KERRY: THE BIBLE COMMANDS AMERICA TO PROTECT MUSLIMS FROM GLOBAL WARMING
Kerry begins this speech by stating that someone named ‘Shriek’ had drafted a strategy for American and Muslim relations. Who this Shriek is exactly is unknown, but apparently his words ‘religion matters’ is ‘a mantra in the State Dept’.

Kerry continues stating that ‘our faiths’ referring to Christianity and Islam are ‘inextricably linked’.

Kerry’s words are bizarre, to say the least. It’s basically a half-baked attempt to forge an affinity for Islam, and stating that the U.S. is now acquiescing to the Muslim Brotherhood, who has successfully infiltrated the United States to a great degree.

Stating that we have an obligation to protect Muslims from global warming seems like something out of the Twilight Zone series, only he’s not writing for T.V. He expects you to jump on the Muslim train…

source


You will NOT BELIEVE who was best man at John Kerry’s daughter’s wedding

You not might be aware that in 2009, the daughter of Secretary of State John Kerry, Dr. Vanessa Bradford Kerry, John Kerry’s younger daughter by his first wife, married an Iranian-American physician named Dr. Brian (Behrooz) Vala Nahed, an Iranian-American physician.

Of course you’re not aware of it.

Brian (Behrooz) Nahed is son of Nooshin and Reza Vala Nahid of Los Angeles. Brian’s Persian birth name is “Behrooz Vala Nahid” but it is now shortened and Americanized in the media to “Brian Nahed.” At the time his engagement to Bradford Kerry, there was rarely any mention of Nahed’s Persian/Iranian ancestry, and even the official wedding announcement in the October 2009 issue of New York Times carefully avoids any reference to Dr. Nahed (Nahid)’s birthplace (which is uncommon in wedding announcements) and starts his biography from his college years.

Gosh, I wonder why??

Gee, do you think Secretary Kerry should have recused himself from the negotiations with Iran at the very outset because of his long-standing relationshipto his Iranian counter-part, Mohammad Javad Zarif? Let me explain.

Zarif is the current minister of foreign affairs in the Rouhani administration and has held various significant diplomatic and cabinet posts since the 1990s. He was Kerry’s chief counterpart in the nuclear deal negotiations.

Secretary Kerry and Zarif first met over a decade ago at a dinner party hosted by George Soros at his Manhattan penthouse. What a surprise. I have to say, connecting the dots gets more and more frightening.

But it gets even worse. Guess who was the best man at the 2009 wedding between Kerry’s daughter Vanessa and Behrouz Vala Nahed? Javad Zarif’s son.

Does this bother anyone at all?

More Here

LIBERALS SIGN PETITION TO IMPOSE 10% “MALE PRIVILEGE TAX”

Liberals signed a petition to address “income inequality” by imposing a 10% “male privilege tax” on all men in the latest Mark Dice ‘man on the street’ video which illustrates how much leftists are divorced from reality.

Asked to support an additional 10% tax on men’s income, one woman responded, “I’ll definitely sign for that,” before adding, “Yeah I’ve never heard of that before but whatever they’re trying to do right now is clearly not working so I’m all for giving it a shot.”

Dice then talks to a couple, telling the woman the petition is to “fight sexism in this new world order.” She signs right in front of her boyfriend, who doesn’t dare raise a whimper of dissent.

Two more women sign the petition, with one saying it helps her “feel better,” before adding, “When that actually happens, that would be great though.”

Two men then sign the petition to help with “income inequality,” despite the concerns of a woman standing nearby who remarks, “That’s their problem, let them go out and find a good job, I make more money than my husband.”

“It’s really the final phase in the new world order to help solve a lot of our economic problems,” states Dice, to which the man responds, “Hell yeah!”

“Gotta stop with this male privilege – feminist revolution is really upon us and it’s the final phase in equality,” remarks Dice.

The leftist media promulgates the myth that men are paid more than women because of discrimination, feeding into feminist doctrines about patriarchal systems oppressing women in the workplace.

In reality, the “gender wage gap” of around 19-23 per cent between the two sexes in the United States is explained by a number of reasons that have nothing to do with discrimination, including the fact that men work more hours and men seek less desirable jobs that pay higher.

As a result, men account for 93% of workplace deaths despite being only 54% of the workforce. 94% of workplace suicides every year are also men. The left buries these shockingly high male workplace fatality figures because they completely contradict the myth that the jobs market discriminates against women.

“The gender pay gap is simply the difference between the average earnings of all men and women working full-time. It does not account for differences in occupations, positions, education, job tenure or hours worked per week,” writes dissident feminist Christina Hoff Sommers. “When such relevant factors are considered, the wage gap narrows to the point of vanishing.”

As Sommers explains in the video below, the gender wage gap myth is based on completely bogus statistics.

source

Kerry: Iranian Leader's 'Death to America' Speech 'Troubling'

The S.O.S. Discusses death threats as troubling?

In an interview Tuesday, Secretary of State John Kerry said a recent speech by Iranian Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei calling for "Death to America" and vowing to maintain anti-American policies was "very disturbing, very troubling."

"You heard 'Death to Israel,' 'Death to the U.S.' You could hear it. The whole nation was shaken by these slogans," said Khamenei in a speech broadcast live on Iranian television Saturday. "So we ask Almighty God to accept these prayers by the people of Iran,” assuring citizens that the regime's opposition to the "arrogant" U.S. "won't change at all":

KHAMENEI: The Islamic Republic of Iran will not give up support of its friends in the region — the oppressed people of Palestine, of Yemen, the Syrian and Iraqi governments, the oppressed people of Bahrain and sincere resistance fighters in Lebanon and Palestine… Our policy will not change with regards to the arrogant US government.

In an interview Tuesday with Saudi television network Al Arabiya, Kerry responded to Khamenei's "troubling" speech.

"I don't know how to interpret it at this point in time, except to take it at face value, that that's his policy," said Kerry. "But I do know that often comments are made publicly and things can evolve that are different," he said, attempting to insert some sense of optimism, but added, "If it is the policy, it's very disturbing, it's very troubling."

Kerry has been making the rounds to defend the deeply unpopular Iran nuclear deal that will almost immediately direct around $150 billion to Iran via lifted sanctions. Iran, the world's leading state sponsor of terrorism, has consistently funneled money to terrorist groups in the region. Attempting to quell widespread concerns about how Iran will use the massive infusion of money, Kerry explained to Judy Woodruff on PBS News Hour that Iran wouldn't use the money for the sponsorship of terrorism because "they're not allowed to do that" according to the terms of the deal:

KERRY: They’re not allowed to do that outside even with this agreement. There's a UN resolution that specifically applies to them not being allowed to transfer to Hezbollah. They are specifically not allowed under another UN resolution to transfer to the Shi’a militia in Iraq.

Oh, because they are "not allowed to do that", we should rest easy?

Source

Green-energy CEO: Vermonters must abandon the car, embrace renewable energy future

NO MORE SUVs: Gov. Peter Shumlin and other Vermonters will have to give up their SUVs and other vehicles as Vermont ramps up renewables to achieve mandates set by Act 56, according to the state’s leading green-industry mogul.

By Bruce Parker | Vermont Watchdog

Now that Vermont has a mandate to get 75 percent of its electricity from renewable energy sources by 2032, residents will have to ditch automobiles and embrace a whole new way of life, the state’s top renewable energy CEO says.
“We’re probably going to have to abandon the car,” David Blittersdorf, president of All Earth Renewables, told Addison County Democrats in a recent presentation titled “Vermont’s Renewable Energy Future.”
Blittersdorf, the entrepreneur arguably responsible for the Green Mountain State’s transition to an energy policy opposed to oil, coal, nuclear and natural gas, says Vermonters face big changes as Act 56 kicks in.
“The car has been our No. 1 reason we consume so much energy. Suburbia is built around the car; our highway system is heavily subsidized around the car. It takes a lot of energy to run a car-centric system,” he said in the hour-long presentation captured on YouTube.
In the new green Vermont, where renewables-based electricity will power nearly all human activities, people will have new lifestyles. Vermonters accustomed to driving will have to seek out mass transit; homes heated by oil and propane will require conversion to solar, wood and biomass sources aided by heat pumps; even air transit will diminish.

And we will all live happily ever after in a pristine and unspoiled Unicorn Land.....

source

Seattle’s Nanny State is “Deputizing Trashmen as Secret Police” to Snoop Through Wastebins

By Eric Boehm | Watchdog.org

If the cops in Seattle want to dig through a city resident’s garbage to look for evidence of a crime, they have to go get a warrant first.

But garbage collectors in Seattle are not only allowed to dig through the trash without a judge’s consent, they’re actually required to do so.

Seattle is on the cutting edge of nanny state-ism with a new citywide ban on throwing any compostable material into the trash, no matter how gross, smelly or disgusting it might be. The city government is serious about this — so serious that they have deputized the trashmen as a sort of secret police who are being ordered to rat on residents’ trash habits to the nannies at Seattle Public Utilities.

If this sounds like an arrangement that violates a whole bunch of amendments to the U.S. Constitution (and the Washington State Constitution too, in the event you’re familiar with it), well, you’re not alone.

FROM THE OTHER SIDE

4 Ways Your Loved Ones in Spirit Are Trying to Contact You

By Melanie Jade Rummel

Dealing with the death of a loved one can be difficult. As a medium who communicates with spirits, I know that the smallest message or sign from a loved one in spirit can mean the world. Your loved ones in spirit have several ways to get messages to you, but their messages are subtle, so you may overlook or discount them if you don’t know what to look for.

SHARPTON: CLIMATE CHANGE ‘CIVIL RIGHTS ISSUE,’ BLACKS ‘SUFFER DISPROPORTIONATELY’

Is there anything that this opportunistic race monger will not twist into a so-called Civil Rights issue? 

Monday, at the White House Champions of Change Faith Leaders for Climate event, the host of MSNBC’s “PoliticsNation,” Reverend Al Sharpton, said climate change is a “civil rights issue” because it “disproportionately” affects African-Americans.
Sharpton said, “it [climate change] is an issue of justice, and it is an issue of human rights. African-Americans are at a higher risk of being close, or predisposed to areas of carbon, as well as other poisonous pollution in the air. And we have a disproportionate interest because we suffer disproportionately.”

To view the two minute video, go here
source

Army Chief of Staff Gen. Odierno doesn’t want our soldiers to be “over-armed”

by Dr. Eowyn

This is what happens when an idiot in the White House appoints another idiot as head of the U.S. Army.

In the aftermath of Muhammad Youssef Abdulazeez’s murder of four Marines and a Navy petty officer at a Naval Reserve Center in Chattanooga, Tennessee, questions once again are raised about the policy, begun by then-President Bill Clinton, of disarming service members on military bases.

Responding to those questions, Chief of Staff of the U.S. Army Gen. Raymond Odierno told reporters that arming troops in those offices could cause more problems than it might solve.

Odierno said during a morning breakfast on Friday, July 17, 2015, a day after the Chattanooga attack, “I think we have to be careful about over-arming ourselves, and I’m not talking about where you end up attacking each other.” Instead, he said, it’smore about “accidental discharges and everything else that goes along with having weapons that are loaded that causes injuries.”

Duh.

According to Odierno’s reasoning, the Secret Service should be disarmed as well because they carry guns, which means there could be “accidental discharges” that “cause injuries.”

For that matter, I propose that Gen. Odierno should set the example by disarming himself — all in the interest of preventing “accidental discharges” of his firearms.

How about it, Gen. Odierno?

Note: Odierno is an Obama appointee who became Army Chief of Staff on September 7, 2011.
Source

Liberals Sign Petition Supporting “WHITE PRIVILEGE TAX”

Yes, this was a stunt, and many fell for the pitch...

A 1% income tax on all white people to be redistributed to help “minority communities”

As Barack Obama unveiled a new program to collect data on Americans by race in order to document “inequalities” between minorities and whites, Americans signed a petition to impose a “white privilege tax” on all Caucasians.

Mark Dice’s latest ‘man on the street’ stunt is perhaps his most outrageous yet, proving that leftists will advocate unbridled insanity so long as they are told it’s in the name of fighting racism.

Asked to sign the petition to support a 1% income tax on all white Americans in order to “even out the playing field” and redistribute the wealth amongst minority communities, the first man in the clip is incredulous that such a policy would pass but signs his name to it anyway.

After a Puerto Rican man signs the petition, another individual who admits he is a non resident asks for clarification, remarking, “so in other words, tax the white man?” before signing the paper.

“We’re gonna take the silver spoon out of the white people’s mouths and put it back into yours,” Dice tells an African American man who enthusiastically signs the petition before stating, “appreciate it, man!”

A man wearing sunglasses then seems even more keen to support the white privilege tax, telling Dice, “You’re the kind of white dude I like, thank you…white dudes that promote this kind of stuff are aware of the white privilege.”

“Honestly, that’s awesome!” the man enthuses after signing the petition.

Thankfully, a number of individuals refused to sign the petition, realizing that fighting racism by instituting racist policies was a dumb idea.

The timing of the stunt is appropriate given recent revelations of a new government program that isn’t a million miles away from the notion of a white privilege tax.

The New York Post reports on the White House’s new data collection program which will pry, “into our most personal information at the most local levels, all for the purpose of “racial and economic justice.”

“This Orwellian-style stockpile of statistics includes a vast and permanent network of discrimination databases, which Obama already is using to make “disparate impact” cases against,” writes Paul Sperry.

The program will also put pressure on areas deemed too white to change zoning laws to allow construction of cheaper homes in affluent suburbs in order to “relocate inner-city minorities to those predominantly white areas.”

Source

WORLD RECORD Basketball Shot

An Incomplete List of the Many Things Chuck Schumer Has Tried to Ban

by ISAAC COHEN 

Senator Chuck Schumer, the senior senator from New York State, recently joined the New York Police Department in calling for a federal ban on iPhone cases that resemble real handguns, and demanded that online retailers take them off the shelves (Amazon acquiesced to the request, according to the New York Times). 

As evidenced by the NYPD’s backing, Schumer kind of has a point here — the products could be dangerous, and federal law already requires that toy guns have an orange dot at the end of their barrels, so Schumer isn’t totally out of line on this one. 

But it looks more ridiculous in light of the long line of things Senator Schumer has tried to ban. A sampling of the work of America’s most meddlesome senator: 

Earlier this year, Schumer called on the FDA to ban powdered caffeine, after it was linked to the deaths of two teenagers last year. 

In March, he proposed a federal ban on green laser pointers after a few morons used them to disorient airline pilots during take-off and landing.

In April, Schumer called on the FDA to ban e-cigarette flavors like “bubble gum” and “gummy bear,” which he argued are intended to entice children and teenagers; 

In June, the senator introduced legislation that would make it illegal to produce, sell, or possess powdered alcohol. 

That’s five ideas for federal bans in just the first seven months of this year — not a bad start. 

Way back in 2005, Schumer proposed banning 25 to Life, a videogame that allows players to kill cops and use innocent people as human shields. According to Schumer, the game “lowered common decency,” which is probably true, but that doesn’t always mean you have to whip out the ban stick — ever seen Game of Thrones? 

In 2010, Schumer (successfully) asked the New York state liquor authority to ban alcoholic energy drinks such as Four Loko, a caffeinated beverage that combines stimulants and depressants. 

In 2012, the senator introduced a bill requiring that Olympic uniforms be made in America — in other words, he wanted to ban internationally produced Olympic wear. 

In 2013, he called for federal law to prohibit 3-D-printed “undetectable” guns. 

In 2014, Schumer demanded that the Food and Drug Administration ban azodicarbonamide, a chemical commonly found in yoga mats and shoe soles, which is also used as a food additive in fast food bread buns and other products sold in grocery stores. (The FDA says it’s safe.) 

It’s not just bans, either, that the meddlesome Schumer wields in dubious efforts to protect Americans: In 1995, for instance, he urged Attorney General Janet Reno to probe cereal companies for antitrust violations, because prices for cold cereal had, well, gone up. 

If someone ever comes up with a alcoholic, caffeine-infused powdered cereal that looks like a gun, who knows what the senator might do?

— Isaac Cohen is an intern at National Review.


source

BREAKING: Michelle Bans "Unhealthy" Food From U.S. Navy

Michelle wants to ban all fried foods to our sailors. Really??

The brave, hard-working sailors who make up the ranks of the United States Navy were outraged after they learned of a coming food ban that may have been instigated by the gross overreach of First Lady Michelle Obama’s “healthy” eating agenda.

The Truth Is Whatever We Want It To Be

Fake Indian Prof Doubles Down on Critics

For this progressive professor, identity is fluid and the truth is whatever she feels it is.

As the Daily Caller reports, UC Riverside professor Andrea Smith is doubling down on her insistence that her Cherokee identity is real, despite lack of evidence.

Smith, who has repeatedly claimed Cherokee heritage and allowed herself to be characterized as a "top Cherokee intellectual," is recognized as a major academic in Native American studies - or was until several American Indian journalists pointed out she was not a tribal member and had no evidence to support her claims.

In a blog post late last week, Smith defended herself by simply insisting that

I have always been, and will always be Cherokee. I have consistently identified myself based on what I knew to be true. My enrollment status does not impact my Cherokee identity or my continued commitment to organizing for justice for Native communities.

David Cornsilk, an expert on Cherokee genealogy, told The Daily Beast that Smith approached him twice in the 1990s looking for possible Cherokee heritage. Both times, Cornsilk found none whatsoever.

Unable to prove her case factually, and with no high cheekbones like Elizabeth Warren to claim as physical proof of Native American heritage, Smith naturally resorted to playing the persecution card:

These social media attacks send a chilling message to all Native peoples who are not enrolled, or who are otherwise marginalized, that they should not publicly work for justice for Native peoples out of fear that they too may one day be attacked. It is my hope that more Indigenous peoples will answer the call to work for social justice without fear of being subjected to violent identity-policing.

Cherokee historian Patti Jo King, an academic who confronted Smith in the past, rebutted that Smith is “trying to switch the argument around here. We are not talking about her scholarship here. We are not talking about her commitment to Indian people.”

As the Daily Caller points out,

Smith has been booked at conferences specifically due to her Cherokee identity, and if she isn’t Cherokee at all she was presumably denying those conference slots to actual Indians, contributing to their marginalization.

King further pointed out that by constantly claiming a role as a top Cherokee scholar, Smith was essentially hijacking Cherokee culture and destroying their unique identities.

But hey, for a progressive professor, identity is fluid and the truth is whatever she feels it is. 

source

Vegans Must Illegally Overthrow Society to Save the World

by KATHERINE TIMPF 
A professor at the University of Texas at El Paso wrote a manifesto saying that animal-rights activists must rise up and commit “illegal raids” and “sabotage attacks” in order to save the world from a “mass extinction.”

In a 2009 piece for the Animal Liberation Front titled “Manifesto for Radical Abolitionism: Total Liberation By Any Means Necessary,” associate professor of philosophy Steven Best says that groups like PETA are just not radical or progressive enough. After all, they work with corporations (boo!) “in order to regulate, not eliminate, the ongoing nonhuman animal holocaust.”

Best explains that capitalism is “destructive,” the state is a “corrupt tool,” and keeping animals enslaved will definitely lead to a “mass extinction” — and so basically it’s just not enough to go vegan or adopt a rescue puppy.

What does he suggest we do instead?

Well . . . We endorse a form of abolition that (1) defends the use of high-pressure direct action tactics, along with illegal raids, rescues, and sabotage attacks; (2) views capitalism as an inherently irrational, exploitative, and destructive system, and sees the state as a corrupt tool whose function is to advance the economic and military interests of the corporate domination system and to repress opposition to its agenda; (3) has a broad, critical understanding of how different forms of oppression are interrelated, seeing human animal, nonhuman animal, and earth liberation as inseparable projects; and, thus, (4) promotes an anti-capitalist alliance politics with other rights, justice, and liberation movements who share the common goal of dismantling all systems of hierarchical domination and rebuilding societies through decentralization and democratization processes.

Now, in case you’re thinking his pitch sounds a little too intense, he insists that it’s absolutely necessary in order to continue to exist — which I’ll admit does sounds like a pretty important cause:

We must link the liberation of other animals to human and Earth liberation, and build a revolutionary movement strong enough to vanquish capitalist hegemony and to remake society without the crushing loadstones of anthropocentrism, speciesism, patriarchy, racism, classism, statism, heterosexism, ableism, and every other pernicious form of hierarchical domination.

Humanity may not succeed in this endeavor, but it is one that we must undertake. It is no longer the classical choice between ‘revolution or barbarism,’ but now that of revolution or ecological collapse and mass extinction.

Oh. Well, okay then. Best did not respond to a request for comment in time for publication.

— Katherine Timpf is a reporter for National Review Online.

read more