"If God's on our side, He'll stop the next war "
Bob Dylan

@2:

The reason the rental market has "adjusted" over the past decade is because tens of thousands, nay, hundreds of thousands (about 128,000 according to 2020 Census figures: https://www.seattletimes.com/subscribe/signup-offers/?pw=redirect&subsource=paywall&return=https://www.seattletimes.com/seattle-news/seattle-grew-by-more-than-100000-people-in-past-10-years-kent-among-fastest-growing-cities-new-census-data-shows/) and housing stock hasn't increased anywhere near enough to accommodate that growth.

And speaking of Tacoma:

https://www.thenewstribune.com/news/business/real-estate-news/article250377651.html

When Afghanistan's ruling Government hosted Al Qaeda and enabled 9/11, which resulted in the horrifying deaths of nearly 3,000 Americans in one morning, was that "meddling"?

@6 It sounds like your proposed solution to this worldwide systemic problem boils down to complaining about it online. I have some doubts about that plan.

Also, I think if PAX (an indoor event) is safe enough to go on this weekend then the State Fair (an outdoor event) should be less of a concern.

5 - That would certainly be a charitable word for it!

Biden: reasonably good job on the economy and working to pass a compromise infrastructure package; generally humane and sane about COVID; genuine environmental concern and welcome return to the global stage on this issue; tending toward better relations with European allies; some serious missteps and lapses in the initial Afghanistan withdrawal but a fairly efficient evacuation afterwards. All in all: B+ or thereabouts. I'm fine with that--infinitely preferable to Trump. Sad to see the past few weeks many media stories so full of hostility, negativity, and contempt for Biden. He made some serious mistakes in Afghanistan and deserves some criticism. But that's it. His presidency is not a failure. Joe's alright. Remember who preceded and wants to follow him. I'm sticking with Joe. Don't cave. Trump lurks, and that is not good. Let's hope Biden can get his poll numbers up a bit: that's doable. Don't turn on him. Trump would be far worse.

Lead remains in aviation fuel (avgas) used in piston (most propeller-driven) aircraft.

@4 is absolutely right. And it's way past time that the City Council did something to allow housing to be built. Like, I don't know, maybe change some zoning laws?

Sometimes I get the crazy idea that Kshama & Co. make more political points from ranting about how the est of us are oppressing the poor than they would by actually doing something about it. Crazy, no?

@11 I think blame for the chaos should land on the pentagon. They've had time to prepare for this since before Biden was elected. Furthermore, how much responsibility should Biden even have for this withdrawal? The man has many duties and such an undertaking no doubt requires extensive teamwork between knowledgeable professionals. As far as I'm concerned he's done a great job just by not publicly patting himself on the back while insulting our servicemen and women, which is absolutely what trump would still be doing.

@16 - Sadly, I don't think that the Scarfed Menace is going to be recalled.

My two paragraphs were sort of distinct but related thoughts. The entire Council, as well as assorted NIMBY groups, is to blame for the lack of rezones. But I do maintain that Sawant & her ilk are much happier beating up on landlords than they would be doing anything that actually addresses the problem. She's a lot like Trump in that she'd rather rant & promise to hurt the people that her constituents dislike than actually solve any problems.

Selling out is becoming increasingly attractive relative to continuing to rent, and the recent rash of laws requiring you to rent to the Klansman with the 6 burglary convictions if he turns up first are exacerbating that trend. And you know who is really going to get hurt? Low-income renters, because the fastest way to make sure you don't get hurt by tenant protection laws is not to rent out cheap places. The Klansman I mentioned above is very unlikely to have a 750 credit score and a $100,000 income.

But the college sophomore-level socialists Sawant is catering to just love it when she "sticks it to the man," even if it hurts them in the end.

@5 Pretty much everyone involved in that attack were Saudi. Saudi money paid for it all. Saudi Arabia actively spreading Wahhabism across the Muslim world led to radicalization in Sunnis.

We should have taken action against the Saudis, but they are our "friends" and "allies."

@19 - totally agree (although I don't think that the Taliban or any of a number of other groups would have tried to talk them out of it). The least we could do is put a bone saw embargo on the Saudis.

@3 pat L and Bob Dylan: Amen.

'And coincidentally the US soldiers
you want to sacrifice in this
endless war are not you.'
--@Perfessor

well if That ain't
Suitable for Framing

hang it on every single Pro-WAR
congresspersonages' fucking Door.

the Rich NEVER fight in War
the damn Stakes ae Too HIGH.

other Peeps' kids
are Expendable
somehow.

@5: i was going to go there too, but then I just got tired.

@22: you're tilting at the wrong windmill. i am not advocating keeping troops eternally in Afghanistan. I'm quite aware of the Saudi involvement and the Wahhabist Madrassas all across the Sunni Muslim world.

the term "meddling" just got my goat, as if there were no rationale whatsoever for action against Al Qaeda, just our imperialist proclivities. like others, i wish they'd had their hideout in Riyadh, and I wish GWB wasn't a fucking dipshit who played right in to OBL's hands.

@19,

Hindsight is 20/20 and all, and I honestly barely even remember who or what I supported doing back in late 2001, but the sad and frustrating reality is we shouldn't have attacked anyone, or at least not any one single nation state. The groups we're at odds with are disparate, factious and functioning in countries all over the world. They don't identify geopolitically the way Americans and other citizens do, and so framing this war in these terms was probably just one of a zillion mistakes that were made these last 20 years. It was deemed a "War on Terror," sure, but this too was misleading and confusing.

I'd bet in a lot of ways it's similar to the dumb ass domestic struggles that we're currently fighting. They're non-winnable wars on ignorance and stupidity and we're suckers for being drawn in, though I don't know that we've much of a choice in either case.

People is dumb is I guess what I'm getting at here.

Ah, I guess @22 kinda kinda beat me to that point. Got drawn in by a late surge of work.

Which also sucks! Screw work.