Mt. Rainier gets a lot of snow every winter.  In fact, for many years it had the world record for snow in a single year.  (It lost the record in 1999 to another Cascade volcano, Mt. Baker.)

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Now is a good time to review that dishonest tactic.  Here's my own post on the subject, and here's a good discussion, with some likely examples, from John Hawkins.

If you think a commenter is mobying, usually the best thing to do is ignore them.

I'll be performing at the July 4th Tea Party in Everett, at the Snohomish County Courthouse Plaza. I'll play two or three songs, starting around 12:30. The rally starts at 1 p.m. The group putting on the Tea Party, Renew Liberty, is also participating in the Everett parade.

If you come to Everett, please wear red, white, and blue. The theme of the day, "Colors of Freedom," is "a community celebration of American diversity." I tend to think July 4th should be a celebration of our independence and freedom. Diversity's a great thing, but can't we spend just this one day focusing on liberty? Isn't that the point?

To help your Independence Day weekend kick off right, here's a video I recorded last night, a cover of a song by Roy Hurd called "Lookin' for America."

Cross-posted on <pudge/*>.

While making his pro-regime propaganda film, Rick Steves missed, completely, the very large number of Iranians who were dissatisfied with the regime.  Very dissatisfied.  On Sunday, the travel writer, who should be apologizing for missing a story that big, gave us his second thoughts.

Today, the relatively peaceful Iran I experienced is in turmoil.  And it's not America that's radicalizing its population, but its own government.

But Steves does not ask, much less answer, the obvious question:  Why did he miss, completely, the turmoil underneath that "relatively peaceful Iran"?

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This morning I learned from one of our local leftwing talk show hosts that we have a "rampant free market health care system".  Ross believes that our "rampant free market" explains why our health care costs are higher than those in other industrialized nations, and that a greater dose of government would help cut back those costs.  (Ross must not have heard the joke that ends with this punch line: "I'm from the government, and I'm here to help you cut costs.")

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Last week, I mentioned the state auditor's report on King County, which found that the county should improve oversight, and lacked performance measures.  I'll be taking a longer look at the report, as time permits, but I could really use the help of an accountant or two.  In particular, I would like to know whether a publicly-owned firm would be in trouble with government agencies after similar findings.

If you have the necessary expertise and are willing to take a look at the report, please email me.  If you prefer, your contributions can be anonymous.  I am even willing for the contribution to be doubly anonymous, that is to come from someone whom I do not know.  (Though I would, of course, have to mention that as a caveat in any posts.)  I am willing to do that because I think we really need a more informed discussion of the report than we have gotten so far from our local news organizations.

Don't think that you have to do a full evaluation; even brief remarks on parts of the report would be helpful.

(Although I am more than willing to accept anonymous help — and can understand why some might prefer to be anonymous — this might be a good opportunity for publicity, especially for someone just starting in the field.  If you want publicity in return for your help, that's fine with me.)
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In a June 30, 2009 Seattle Times opinion piece, Seattle economist Bruce Flory and Todd Myers from the Washington Policy Council proposed replacing the state property tax with a carbon tax. Such a tax would reduce the use of carbon-based fuels by making them more expensive. Leaving aside the controversy over climate change, benefits would include cleaner air, reduced reliance on imported petroleum products and it avoids the fraud prone Cap and Trade system. Additionally, in theory at least, the carbon tax would be revenue neutral to the government.

But nothing is ever perfect especially when it comes to taxes. A carbon tax is straight- forward and more transparent than Cap and Trade but less so than a property...Read the rest >>

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The Seattle Times couldn't avoid mentioning "an anti-tax rally" in its short hit piece on Tim Eyman's appearance Saturday at the Tea Party in Olympia. I call it a hit piece because two words "Professional activist" are intended to delegitimize him.

The way his Initiative 1033 lowers property taxes is novel. This isn't just a limit on the growth in property taxes. That, after many trials, is in place with Initiative 747 and stays. When state state revenue grows for whatever reason above the limit the next year the state portion of your property taxes will be lower. Lower for just that one year, but LOWER!

The Seattle Times doesn't want you to go to the Initiative 1033 web...Read the rest >>

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Our friends over at NW Digest note that Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer said Obama's planned increase of corporate taxes could cut profits by 10 to 15 percent and force the company to hire more overseas labor. Take that, add cap and trade to it (note that our own Dave Reichert was one of only eight Republicans in the House to vote for it), not to mention the significant new burdens many companies will face under Obama's health care plan ... actually, don't do that. It'll ruin your weekend.

Professor Robert George of Princeton University is leading an effort to enable Americans to reaffirm the principles our country was founded on:

The American Principles Project

The United States of America does not need new principles. It needs renewed fidelity to the principles set forth in our Declaration of Independence and the Constitution. These are timeless principles: truths that we hold, in Jefferson's immortal words, to be, "self-evident." They are, moreover, universal principles, not the historically contingent beliefs or customs of a particular sect or clan or tribe. They are rooted in the nature of man as a being who, by virtue of his...

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