"Auburn's worst cop gets more expensive"

vastly Cheaper to keep him
@Home except then all the
Copycats' killing sprees'd
likley Finally Bankrupt
the Bank.

Why are Cops so
busy De-fundin'
the Po-po?

Will, the attorney, knows damn good and well why, "The Commission hasn't offered an explanation as to why it didn't use its authority to boot Timothy Rankine from the academy." They can only do so "for cause."

From the article he links to, "Commission staff is expected to draft language clarifying authority to remove recruits whose behavior has raised concerns about their mental fitness."

So they have to have a policy. They have to have some method or procedure to MEASURE mental unfitness. They have some stated SPECIFIC benchmark spelled out, and an evaluation against that benchmark, by multiple evaluators. There has to be opportunities to correct and improve. There has to be some way to appeal the dismissal before it happens. Absent that, denying a citizen a government job or benefit based on another government employee's subjective opinion, is a violation of the 5th and 14th Amendments, among potentially others.

Why do you think the instructor at the academy wrote a memo to the agency that had hired him? The agency didn't have the policy and measurements in place to fail him out of the academy. So they write the police agency that had hired him, and sent him to the Academy for training, to see if they can fire him. Guess what, absent him failing the Academy, the police agency had nothing objective and measureable, to point to either.

Citizens employed, or receiving a benefit from the government, have rights under the Constitution, and laws, that make them much more difficult to let go, or to terminate a benefit.

If your father, your uncle, or your brother behaved like E-loon Mush (((or Tr666p))), you'd have them locked up as a danger to themselves and others.

Mush is a megalomaniacal psychopath who should be deported.

What's the point on supporting Starbuck strikers, who hate Starbucks but strangely still want to work there, when there are better jobs at restaurants and shops they could take?

Iverson.

Will, THE ATTORNEY, writes Pennsylvania Republican are attempting to "effectively steal the Democrats' first House majority."

Uh no, Mr. Will, trained in the rule of law, necessary for any democracy to function.

Republicans in PA are doing, under the democratically authorized and permitted legal structure, what attorneys do. They are using procedural technicalities to get an outcome.

I don't agree with what the Pennsylvania "R's" are doing, but its a political question, not a legal or moral question. It's certainly not "stealing" which is a legal and moral concept.

Why do you hate America? Why do you hate freedom? If you hate this country so much, nobody is asking you to stay!

@8, Freedom doesn't remain freedom, unless the rule of law established by the democracy preserving that freedom are observed. Arbitrary action in violation of democratically established laws, is anathema to freedom.

find the cost of freedom, buried in the ground.

the cost is dead kids at 10x the rate of the next closest nation.

Whoosh

America sure loves Freedumb.

Freedumb of speech for billionaires.

Freedumb to count more dead children by gunshot than any of the top 20 OEDC nations.

Freedumb of the most expensive healthcare with some of the worst outcomes.

Freedumb to spread an infectious disease.

Freedumb to be the only wealthy democracy (using the term loosely) to have a rapidly contracting life expectancy.

Soon, if the Freedumb lovers get their way, America will probably have Freedumb to live under a police state.

So much Freedumb.

Biggest Killer of our
Kids these days?

not sickness
not cars:
Guns.*

*but as we All 'know'
there is NOTHING
that can be Done.

we're Exceptional!
uaa usa usa !

"This manbaby really needs less screen time."

I certainly agree but then we will need the media, present company included, to post fewer photos of and articles about Mr. Musk. Rather than write three paragraphs about Twitter angst, why not write a puff piece on Mastodon or whatever social site that you prefer. Just ignore the "manbaby."

and no we do NOT hate America.
we Hate what the Wealthy
have done to it -- and
to the "bottom"
NINETY %.

@14. Add the Royal Tabloid bullshit to that list. For the love of Pete, who gives a flying fuck about these utterly inconsequential turds? If I want The Sun I'll buy a copy. Jeebus tap dancing Cwithe on a cracker, ya basta!

@17: I agree, the Duke and Duchess of Sussex are utterly inconsequential turds.

Wow!
Garb and Raindrop agree!
Christmas IS the time for reconciliation!
(or Hanukkah if you’re so inclined)
I can do without the Royals.
I can also do without the snow - but at least the cold fall has increased the snowpack.

@12, "Freedumb to live under a police state."

That is precisely what happens when people, particularly powerful people, aren't bound by the rule of law the democracy.

Absent being bound to rule of law, they are free to do whatever they want, to whoever they want.

Don't like what the government, a corporation, or another person does to you, take them to court. Oh wait, you can't do that. Someone prohibited the court from hearing your case, or stripped the court of authority over what they do.

@13, Biggest killer of kids is people. Cars don't kill kids, guns don't kill kids. People using those tools kill kids.

Using tools other than guns, we kill more kids (and others), that Europeans do, using tools other than guns. By a factor of 2x to 8x, depending on which European country. We are just more violent to each other.

Changing what tools are available, assuming that was possible, would just change the tool was used for the killing, with our higher rates of violence to each other.

Why are we so much more violent to one another, than Europeans are?

@15, The wealthy can only do that with the acquiescent consent of the bottom 90% at the ballot box. A billionaire and a minimum wage worker have one, and only one, vote each.

@nuthin'cepttheFAXman:

yeah right let me ax you a Question?
which one has the Most
FREE Speech?

Fuck off
with your
False Equivalency.

I remember the dot com bust back in 2000 and early 2001. Kind of a horrible time. So many lay-offs in Seattle. And employers acquired a herd mentality. If you got canned in Seattle during that time, you almost certainly couldn’t find another tech job – even if a company needed workers. Word was out. The dot com fiesta was over. “It wouldn’t be prudent to hire at this time,” became the motto.

So, even as I hope all laid-off people get their jobs back, or find new positions in another tech firm, remember that tech is like any other industry now (even if some provide free snacks, drinks, and cozy napping rooms), you might want to consider re-training to do something else. Something in healthcare, perhaps? It won’t pay as much to be sure, but when was the last time you heard of a nurse getting laid off?

And btw, those of us laid-off way back then were told not to worry. Plenty of great jobs out there.

There shouldn’t be a statue of limitations for rape or human trafficking. It’s almost 2023. Those who still think it’s cool to club a woman and drag her back to their caves by the hair need to be corrected of their errant thinking – or better yet, spend a week at Uncle Bauhaus’s Electrical Spa.

I don’t know if Seattle is better prepared for an arctic blast than it was in 1991, but I suggest stocking up for about a week, if you can.

So, that’s it for me for a while. Great weekend to all. Have a wonderful holiday season. It’s been a tough year what with Ukraine and prices, etc. Still, remember there’s always hope for the future. There’s still an amazing amount of heartbreaking beauty and heartwarming kindness out there. Take a deep breath of that clean, icy air when it arrives and remember. Season’s best wishes to all. I’ve enjoyed reading your thoughts this year. Let’s do it again soon. Happy Holidays!

@15

I’m curious what you think the top income of the bottom 90 percent is?

Or since Occupy was all about “We are the 99 Percent!” I wonder how much you think a person can make and still be in the bottom 99 percent.

@Bauhaus

it has been a Tough year although
not as crappy as it might've been
I've enjoyed your comments too
and appreciate your outta Town
perspectives. Happy Holidays!
and Safe Travels.

and Safe (fun!) Travels.

@23, All that money doesn't work as a Jedi mind-trick. AOC is Exhibit A. She got crushed by 10:1 by a well funded, incumbent opponent. She beat him. Now she's a Congresswoman

Joe Kent (Nazi Party) outspent Congresswoman-elect Gluesenkamp Perez (D) when the dark money groups are considered, in a District that went for Trump over Biden by five points.

You see outcomes like that all across the country. Frankly I am surprised the wealthy (Democratic donors now out give Republicans) keep sinking all the money they do into these races, when all they do is bounce the rubble, without moving numbers.

Further studies of Congressional votes show that members vote the position of voters in their districts, as determined by polling within the District, 92% of the time. Yet they get gazillions in campaign cash from interest groups and individuals that don't support the vote the member takes on those bills.

Perhaps the reason voters don't buy into Bernie Sanders or Elizabeth Warren, isn't because they get outspent by more conservative candidates with the Democratic Party, is that voters, once you get beyond N.H. and Iowa, no what those candidates are selling and aren't there. Step outside the Seattle Progressive bubble, and lots of intelligent, rank and file voters don't want a Western European style welfare state.

Hell even progressive Vermont voters turned against universal healthcare in their state, when the cost of the program, well exceeded existing Medicaid spending AND existing private employer/employee combined. The state's biggest companies supported the program. There was little opposition or spending against it.

@24,

Likewise, happy holidays & all that crap!

@nuthin'cepttheFAXman:

vtl;dfr but

ya don’t gotta be
Obi Wan Kanobi
to know the Bus-
Boy can't afford
to swing the fuk-
ing Vote nor 'Just
Us' Roberts either

@28,

Your exhibit A is one of a tiny minority in this respect.

"How strong is the association between campaign spending and political success? For House seats, more than 90 percent of candidates who spend the most win. From 2000 through 2016, there was only one election cycle where that wasn’t true: 2010. “In that election, 86 percent of the top spenders won,”"

https://fivethirtyeight.com/features/money-and-elections-a-complicated-love-story/

@31 -- well just
Some Of the
facts. who's
got Time
to List
'em
All?

@ kristofarian, Original Andrew, Max Solomon, PrincessAngeline#2, pat L, and Bauhaus I: +6 Right spot ON for the group WIN!

The way to eliminate gluttonous billionaire criminal psychopaths and manbabies like the Orange Turd and Elon Musk? Get them out of the spotlight. One way is to avoid Twitter. I've never subscribed and am glad I have no use for it. Want the Fall of Jeff Bezos? Stop buying from Amazon. What were we all doing before Twitter and Amazon?

Will, Will, Will---I'm with PrincessAngeline#2 here. I know 'tis the season, but be careful of what you wish for! If you want snow so badly, go skiing / snowboarding, etc. up in the mountains. Baker. Crystal. Snoqualmie. Whistler. One caveat, though: don't come crying if your car is in the bodyshop for three months after dealing with all the idiots on the road. The annual number of spinouts alone on I-90 should be a more than sufficient deterrent to recreational winter driving, especially to the passes. SR 20 between Burlington (I-5 interchange) and Anacortes / Whidbey Island Spur (crossing the Deception and Canoe Pass Bridges is a bitch this time of year--be careful!), and US Route 2 to Stevens Pass have gotten too crazy for words.
I agree with Bauhaus I, too: should we get another Arctic blast (i.e., 1991 and 1996) stock up, everybody, and stay warm! Safe and happy travels to those, Bauhaus I and others, taking holiday vacations.

That said, wishing all the best to all this Christmas et. al. (insert your celebrated holiday here) season. :)

@15
It's been a while, before Occupy Wall Street in fact. I read something that at the time all it took to be in the richest top 10% globally was cash positive 60 grand US. Of course the difference between some who just barely meets the lowest amount and those truly in the 1% is exponential.

"Of course the difference between some who just barely meets the lowest amount and those truly in the 1% is exponential." -@skiddy

as is their Political Power
tho it be News to some few
who spew Misinformation daily