The Morning News: Activists Target Microsoft Shuttle, Plus Other Stuff

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Correction: "In the past TWO decadeS, well-paid tech industry employees have flooded Seattle's neighborhoods, driving up the STANDARD of living THROUGH COMMERCE CREATING BUSINESS OPORTUNITIES FOR ANYONE THAT ISN'T A DISGRUNTLED WHINEY."

raindrop on February 10, 2014 at 9:56 AM

Republicans may head off a few lunatics in the primaries, but they cling to lunatic policies. Everything they stand for is bad for the American people.

Pope Peabrain on February 10, 2014 at 10:00 AM

Those people went to the class wanting to learn how to blow themselves up. They sure learned!

As much as I don't usually advocate for vigilante justice or summary execution, I would love to see someone target the anti-gay militia organizers. They say that God prefers that the wicked repent rather than die (Ezekiel 33:11), but I am merely human and cannot, with my lesser wisdom, see a more fitting solution to those vermin than to slash their throats and let them choke on their own blood.

venomlash on February 10, 2014 at 10:03 AM

@1 FTW...

schmacky on February 10, 2014 at 10:25 AM

I've seen these Microsoft shuttles as far north as Everett. Everett is not what one would hip or gentrified.

Frank Blethen's vodka distiller on February 10, 2014 at 10:30 AM

These people are idiots. Surely they understand that Microsoft employees can simply afford to pay tolls if the Connector didn't exist? Even with traffic, driving is generally faster than taking the shuttle, so it's not like people aren't driving because it takes longer.

I'm sorry for being a Microsoft employee spending thousands of dollars on local independently-owned businesses every year. Fuck you, you pieces of shit.

elefunk on February 10, 2014 at 10:32 AM

@1 and the companies that pay them got how much in tax incentives? And just because you like white bread doesn't mean everyone else does. #selfindulgenttechprivilegerunamok

Christopher, have yours started suggesting internment camps for the homeless yet? They have down here.

lucyboots on February 10, 2014 at 10:34 AM

@2: Starting with Lincoln, there have been 18 Republican presidents and 11 Democrat presidents - so how has that been bad for the American people?

raindrop on February 10, 2014 at 10:34 AM

@7: Only for cucumber or watercress sandwiches with the crusts trimmed off.

raindrop on February 10, 2014 at 10:39 AM

@8: Starting with Bush the Elder (and arguably back to Reagan) Republicans at the national level have been far-right fruitsy fruitsy nutbars. How has that NOT been bad for the American people?
We're not talking about the Republicans of yesteryear, when they were the liberal party of the late 1800s. We're talking about their regressive, reactionary, misogynistic, anti-minority, Dominionist, and arguably plutocratic policies of TODAY. The extremists have taken over the GOP; the trunk now wags the elephant.

venomlash on February 10, 2014 at 10:43 AM

Holy fuck those protesters are stupid. Yes, lets protest well paid workers choosing to live in dense neighborhoods where they can easily walk and spend their money.

What exactly are they protesting, the private transit that is replacing car trips? Why aren't they protesting in SLU where Amazon employees represent the largest influx of competition for apartments on the hill? It is just because the busses make for a cheap target. This is just an empty headed imitation of the same fuzzy headed protests in San Francisco.

Also, are they seriously suggesting that these workers don't have the same rights as they do to choose where they live? If they have a problem with bidding wars for apartments, I have no problem with them evangelising Sawant's rent control idea. But the screed against building more apartments suggests these are the same NIMBY assholes who are against any attempts to build affordable housing in the city.

rubystu on February 10, 2014 at 10:44 AM

This is your future if you don't pay attention now and stop it: https://antievictionmap.squarespace.com/

lucyboots on February 10, 2014 at 10:46 AM

You asked for class warfare by killing a millionaire's income tax and delaying $15/hour minimum wage.

You reap what you sow.

Guillotines & mansions in ruins are the likely next step ...

Learn from history.

Will in Seattle on February 10, 2014 at 10:47 AM

I guess Seattle had better not raise the minimum wage; artists, authors, anarchists and the generally unemployable will be driven out of their neighborhoods by gentrifying airport workers and McDonald's employees.

Banna on February 10, 2014 at 10:49 AM

Shorter Anarchist: Give the people jobs!! But don't give them jobs that pay more than my job!

seandr on February 10, 2014 at 10:53 AM

@10: Each party has its adjustments to make to stay as a viable choice for the American people. Filtering out all issues leaving only philosophy, you're left with a left group and a right group.

The debate between them is fundamentally healthy for the American people, because as we've seen that either without catalysts for changes lead to totalitarian regimes.

raindrop on February 10, 2014 at 10:54 AM

Best performance at Beatles' Tribute:

Dave Grohl, "Hey Bulldog"

http://www.dailymotion.com/video/x1bn7vw…

Supreme Ruler Of The Universe on February 10, 2014 at 10:58 AM

Good lord. Seriously? I had hoped that the trust fund anarchists of Seattle wouldn't copy the idiots of SF but I was wrong.

California Kid on February 10, 2014 at 10:58 AM

Wow what idiots how dare peope live where they work? How is gentrification bad. I thought good idea to have safer neighborhoods. Still higher minimum wage would be good maybe 12 and hour. Oh and so would an income tax.

dkjndmsahksdhksal on February 10, 2014 at 11:03 AM

..from giant holes filled with rubble rises the bland architecture of conspicuous consumption

Weren't those the condos SLOG was telling everyone to buy in 2007?

Supreme Ruler Of The Universe on February 10, 2014 at 11:04 AM

Over an hour since this was posted and it's still the latest story on Slog. Slow day.

Matt from Denver on February 10, 2014 at 11:07 AM

The protestors also blocked the standing room only Metro 43 that I was on. We were all treated to a healthy walk in the pouring rain making many of us late to work. Thanks guys!!!

veep23 on February 10, 2014 at 11:12 AM

Hey gentrifitards: I'm one of those well-paid techy jerks except I just take a normal Sound Transit bendy bus. Can't find me!

The CHZA on February 10, 2014 at 11:16 AM

@10 You forgot warmongering incompetents.

Pope Peabrain on February 10, 2014 at 11:17 AM

I hate what would happen if this forced some residents of Capitol Hill to have to move to Ballard, Fremont or, heaven forbid, Georgetown *shudder.* I imagine it would be a big culture shock, not seeing listless twenty and thirtysomethings with sleeve tats and beanie caps in the neighborhood Vita or Stumptown. Do they even have a Stumptown in Ballard? Do they even drink coffee? I DON'T KNOW WHAT'S HAPPENING ANYMORE.

j.lee on February 10, 2014 at 11:18 AM

When you protest working to middle class people who take buses to work you have run out of useful things to do.

ryanmm on February 10, 2014 at 11:19 AM

Uuuuugh. If you are worried about gentrifiction, it's not the fault of the buses. Geez Louise. Require developers to build x so many low and middle income units for every luxury unit, and demand a certain square footage for each low/middle income unit so they can't build penthouses on top of micro units. It's not that tough.

MameSnidely on February 10, 2014 at 11:21 AM

They're just pissed that they can't live in a cheap conclave and take advantage of the benefits of the surrounding areas where people have paid to make things better. Even the anarchists are trying to avoid having to move to White Center, Rainier Valley or Skyway.

Banna on February 10, 2014 at 11:26 AM

What a lazy critique of Microsoft and their buses. I mean that would equally apply to any decent paying jobs. Is the plan really to stop gentrification by getting rid of decent paying jobs?

brent.b on February 10, 2014 at 12:00 PM

Yes to protesting Microsoft's numerous smarmy tax breaks. No to protesting decent-paying jobs and reasonable living standards. The end.

stating the obvious on February 10, 2014 at 12:01 PM

Oh, anarchists. Call your mother.

Ph'nglui mglw'nafh Cthulhu R'lyeh wgah'nagl fhtagn on February 10, 2014 at 12:10 PM

@21
Slow days are good. No need to bombard news story after news story. There once was a saying "stop and smell the roses." Most days on Slog that saying is ignored. Hurry Hurry Hurry

dnt trust me on February 10, 2014 at 12:10 PM

@ 31 - Even protesting Microsoft(or Boeing, or whoever)'s tax breaks is a little lazy. Those companies would just go somewhere else if we took away their tax breaks. It would be a principled stand that would leave everyone in the region worse off. It is the system that encourages a race to the bottom that necessitates those tax breaks, not politicians in WA State. Stronger nationwide policies would prevent the race to the bottom and allow better state policies.

brent.b on February 10, 2014 at 12:11 PM

Morons. They are only doing this because they need something to protest and because of similar protests against similar tech buses in San Francisco, who's neighborhoods have long been gentrified. They even went so far to impersonate Google employees by telling reporters "If they dont like it, they can move!", which makes for great sound bites, until you realize that person isnt a tech employee.

Capitol Hill is simply a victim of its own success by making it an extremely livable neighborhood. It has nothing to do with Microsoft and everything to do with it having a great night life for single people to enjoy, walking distances to stores, etc, etc, hence more and more people want to move there. Get rid of those buses and you would have the same problem, except one that you cant blame it all on Microsoft.

Kinison on February 10, 2014 at 12:15 PM

The Gentrification Horse left the barn years ago, while The Stranger was pushing density and New Urbanism. Quitcherbitchen.

hmmmmm on February 10, 2014 at 12:16 PM

Ya'll got the bus protests up there now, eh? Fun. Wonder if it's the same people from down here, unaware that Capital Hill was actually razed 10 years ago.

Dougsf on February 10, 2014 at 12:19 PM

@25 Stumptown beans are sold at the Ballard Market, but then you'd have to take them home and brew your own damned coffee and connect to your own damned wifi.

Or set up a Coleman stove on the sidewalk along Market St. outside someplace that has their password posted where it's easy to find.

ScrawnyKayaker on February 10, 2014 at 12:20 PM

Well, I don't agree with the protests against Microsofts buses as they're an integrated service in the regional transit system, but the protesters in the Bay Area aren't actually protesting Google or the Google buses; they're protesting the fact they're using publicly funded stops for a private service, taking up space at stops and on routes, reducing the overall efficiency of the transit system. It's worth noting that a lot of the tech companies actually believe that the whole bus service should be privatized because they're libertarian douchebags, so impinging on public services ain't no thing to them. Let's not pretend that the Bay Area protests are all just job-killing anarchist bullshit. Private companies exploiting public services for free, especially when they're already getting massive tax breaks and other generous incentives to be there, is bullshit and a perfectly valid cause of complaint for long-time residents. If you're going to use a service, pay for it, just like the people who pay for it every day.

Jizzlobber on February 10, 2014 at 12:30 PM

@ 18/39 - That was my understanding. That the SF protests were for a legit reason. And that they weren't trying to get rid of the companies or the buses. Just the free private use of public bus stops by for-profit companies.

brent.b on February 10, 2014 at 12:35 PM

16, you speak from ignorance, as you are completely, flat-out wrong. 19th C. politics was very different from what we understand today. Everything was very regional, as they didn't have the national media unifying them. So political parties were more umbrella groups, alliances between, for instance, New England Quakers and Ohio Methodists. The conventions were a lot more volatile, and the parties were a lot more fluid.

In fact, the Republican party came out of a divide from the Whig party, which disintegrated over the issue of slavery. The other thing is that American political parties are far more given to practicality than ideology. The various parties dealt with issues at the time, not philosophies. We no longer argue over western expansion, do we?

If there is one over-arching issue that has always been a part of the American consciousness, it's the issue of immigration. If anything, that would be the main litmus test for who was "conservative" and who was "liberal." But it's not an absolute.

BTW, Eisenhower, a Republican, would never be allowed to join today's GOP. He'd be decried as a red-loving commie.

Some Old Nobodaddy Logged In on February 10, 2014 at 12:42 PM

40: I think there really is this idea floating around that if tech companies are bringing in regional revenue through whatever taxes they pay and the stuff their employees buy, they should be allowed to use whatever public services they want and the public should just stfu about it because we don't want tech employees to have their feelings hurt. They might pack up and leave if they're forced to spend a dime of their massive profits for use of basic utilities. Note: to reiterate, I don't support the protests in Seattle.

Jizzlobber on February 10, 2014 at 12:43 PM

Protest Microsoft subsidies, protest a lack of affordable housing, protest Metro cuts, protest institutional racism, protest wealth inequality in this country... any would be more meaningful than standing in front of a bus full of tech workers.

MLK's Six Principles of Nonviolence - "Principle Three: Nonviolence seeks to defeat injustice not people."

i.e. attack the root(s) of a problem.

MisterAdeline on February 10, 2014 at 12:50 PM

@42 - But that isn't the case in Seattle right? I thought the Microsoft Shuttles were somehow integrated into the system, not just leeching off of it like the Google buses in SF. At any rate, that doesn't seem to be what the protests in Seattle are about. They seem to be purely about good paying jobs being evil because of gentrification.

And, like I said, there is a real proble in the US (and globally) because the current system and rules create a race to the bottom as far as things like this are concerned. There are ways to address that at the national and multi-national level--not so much at the local level.

brent.b on February 10, 2014 at 12:53 PM

@43 - Well said. Neither tech jobs nor tech workers are the actual root problem here.

brent.b on February 10, 2014 at 12:55 PM

@34 the "they'll just go somewhere else" argument. It's a Myth. In the tech world, no they won't. They won't because too many of those highly skilled, hard to find employees won't live "somewhere else" unless it's "somewhere else equally hip" and without them, your company is hosed. And if they do, so what? Where is it written that you must give up everything that makes your city unique simply to keep existing business. It's a fine argument for a town of 20K, but something the size of Seattle? It's nonsense.

lucyboots on February 10, 2014 at 1:08 PM

@40,

Tech companies were already paying for use of the bus stops.

keshmeshi on February 10, 2014 at 1:35 PM

@39,

Would it be better if Google employees living in San Francisco used public transportation, which does cost taxpayers a significant amount of money? Passenger fares are a small fraction of the cost of transit.

keshmeshi on February 10, 2014 at 1:37 PM

#44: Yeah, I have no beef with the Microsoft buses because they are part of the general transit system. My comment only applies to the bay area.

Jizzlobber on February 10, 2014 at 1:49 PM

@46: So exactly how does high-tech and its workers take away from the uniqueness of Seattle more than any other middle to upper-class worker?

raindrop on February 10, 2014 at 1:50 PM

47 & 48:
No, the SF tech companies weren't paying to use the stops. They only started paying (a pittance) in January.

http://www.nytimes.com/2014/01/22/techno…

And no, I don't think the employees should pay to use public transit. I think their employers should pay to use the stops (as they have been since January), or be integrated altogether into the transit system.

Jizzlobber on February 10, 2014 at 1:54 PM

It's ironic how closely the anti-gentrification movement on the left mirrors the anti-diversity sentiment on the right. Both being reactionary, tribal and triggered by societal trends that just can’t be reversed, except by draconian regulation. At least the anti-gentrification activists have the option of proposing measures to reduce the impact of gentrification. If they leave la-la land that is.

Porcupine on February 10, 2014 at 2:08 PM

52: What anti-gentrification movement? Everything has already been gentrified. Are you talking about pockets of minority and low-income people trying to avoid eviction and homelessness (the people actually pushed out) or some nebulous group of well-meaning liberals who say "isn't it a shame the neighborhood I'm gentrifying is being gentrified" and feigning upset? Because I think the former group has a point. Generally if you like where you live, feel a sense of community there and work nearby, being evicted or priced out kind of sucks. I'm not sure what you're talking about exactly. There are lots of non-housing organizations, housing consortium, government agencies, community activists who are simply trying to make housing more affordable and representative of the people living in these neighborhoods--then there are people who just like to protest and see themselves as fighting the man. I don't think these are the same people.

Jizzlobber on February 10, 2014 at 2:25 PM

54: "non-housing organizations, housing consortium" = fair housing organizations, affordable housing consortiums

Jizzlobber on February 10, 2014 at 2:28 PM

Work for a succesfull company, get a free bus ride to work......what's the problem? If I could ride to work everyday for nothing I would do it. What's all the bullshit about housing consortiums? We
are talking about saving money on gas! Drama queens, every one of you.

longwayhome on February 10, 2014 at 6:54 PM

The Morning News: Activists Target Microsoft Shuttle, Plus Other Stuff

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